


W.A.V.E.S.

by TheLateNightStoryTeller



Series: Stories from a Parallel Universe [2]
Category: Agents of SHIELD - Fandom
Genre: And Fitz is mostly fine, F/M, Gen, Post season AU where Fitz and Simmons are together, Scary sci-fi stuff on a cruise ship, Undercover FItzsimmons, and Hydra isn't so big a problem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-09
Updated: 2014-11-09
Packaged: 2018-02-24 16:05:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2587538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLateNightStoryTeller/pseuds/TheLateNightStoryTeller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in a future non-canon world after season 1 where Simmons and Fitz are together and in which Fitz is mostly fine and Hydra isn't so big of a problem. The team goes undercover on a cruise ship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Take Care of Them

"And she's going to get scared once you go below deck," Leo told Skye hovering around her as she packed her bag. "So you should probably hold her hand for bit. Now she isn't going to initiate that, you'll need to hold yours out. Don't make too much of a deal of it though, that'll just make her more nervous."

"Got it," Skye said, jamming her toothbrush into her suitcase. "But Fitz I'm sure she'll be fine. She's a Shield agent remember, she's faced worse."

"Not by choice," he reminded her irritably. He really hoped she wasn't going to belittle Jemma's aquaphobia simply because she'd 'faced worse.' "Skye this is serious," he insisted.

She sighed as she paused her (very last minute) packing and faced him frowning.

"Fitz I get it, she's still sensitive to the idea of being trapped underwater. I'll look out for her, I really will but I need to pack my bras and other private things so could you..?"

"We'll you should have packed last night," he scolded as she herded him out and she rolled her eyes at him before closing the door.

"And if she starts on about the number of lifeboats," he continued from the other side of the door, "remind her we checked out the cruise line and they meet all safety standards. The S.S. Snakehead is owned by Stark Industries, it's a top quality cruise. Not one accident in ten years. Well maybe don't mention accidents but-"

"Fitz, I got it," she called back, muffled by the door. She almost sounded amused but she also seemed a bit annoyed. "Go say goodbye to your girlfriend, you aren't going to be spending a lot of time together until we get to Hawaii."

"Well now you're just trying to get rid of me and y- you're right...," he realized.

Six days seemed like too long. Why had they been given separate covers?

In truth, he suspected Coulson didn't entirely trust them to stay on mission yet, being all new and couple-y.

Bah! Their team leader underestimated them. They weren't hormonal high school students (not that he'd been overly hormonal while he was in high school) they were Shield agents like Skye had said. They'd show him, they'd be completely on mission this time, completely.

He grumbled to himself about ridiculous rules as he sought out Jemma.

/-/-/

"Don't let him eat too many spicy popcorn shrimp," Jemma warned May as she prepared her luggage, placing an ICER and a gun alarmingly between her shirts. "He says he can handle them but trust me he is going to be complaining about his stomach for an hour afterwards." She eyed the place her friend had covered the gun with a grey shirt anxiously. "You're sure Fitz is going to be alright working with you on your part? I mean you're all secret agent and physically strong and he's... he's Fitz. He is a secret agent too of course and he's as brave as anyone but he's not... like you. He can't do fighting off six bad guys with his feet. I know he keeps talking about that one time he kicked an aggressor's head in but-"

"Agent Fitz is my teammate and my friend," she interrupted shutting her suitcase and zipping it closed. "I would protect him with my life."

"Right, of course," Jemma agreed, touched by May's words but not entirely reassured. Was she seriously thinking that was something she'd need to do?

"I make no promises on the shrimp though. What Fitz wants to put into his body is his own business." she asserted.

"Until he starts complaining about it," Jemma mumbled. But she knew May was right.

"Why don't you go say goodbye," May suggested. "We leave in an hour and it's a long way to Hawaii."

Only an hour? What was she doing sitting here talking about shrimp and wasting the rest of their dwindling time? Her cover, poor Sally Johnson, didn't know May or Leo and she'd have to remain in character. Not that she was worried about her acting, she'd been practicing Sally for two days now. Preparation was key to any successful endeavor.

She thanked May for the advice and skipped off to find her boyfriend.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is really just a prologue, I usually do longer chapters just to warn you in case you like shorter ones.
> 
> The title of this story is in a reference to T.R.A.C.K.S which inspired it and have finally realize the acronym title is a reference to the show's title.
> 
> The Fringe reference is the name of the boat Snakehead which is apparently a fish but also the title of a second season episode where things go badly during a boat trip(but not a cruise)


	2. All Aboard

"One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war," they chanted before before their thumbs circled each other like pro-wrestlers.

Leo was nimble but impatient and Jemma knew she could wait for him to strike first so she could trap him beneath her mighty digit.

"We'll be together when the ship reaches the port," she reminded him cheerfully because their impending separation was hanging a cloud of gloom over the both of them.

"Yeah, two days traded for six," he muttered. He sighed before he smiled at her. "Did you want to come see the Volcanoes National Park with me?"

"That sounds wonderful," she chirped, focusing on the cheery silver lining of a brief vacation with him and their friends. "And on the way we might be fortunate enough to check off some rare flora and fauna from our scavenger hunt. Orchids and gastropods, fun!"

He was glowing as his eyes drifted over her face sending waves of warmth towards her which popped little bursts of happiness like popcorn in her chest.

Leaning forward he kissed her, making her insides twist around pleasantly and for a moment she forgot their game.

"I'm really going to miss you," he told her, but his voice was filled with affection rather than dread.

"Me too," she agreed, soaking him in like sunshine, the kind she didn't need sunscreen for. She hoped he'd packed some for the voyage. "But there's no reason we can't still have fun," she assured him. "I'm sure Franklin Low will enjoy a good cruise with his step-mom. It's a perfect opportunity for team- er, family bonding."

She'd helped him design his cover story, trying to make Frank a happy fellow so Leo would have a good time with May, or Maggie Chen which was her cover name (She'd opted not to change her last name to Low upon marrying Frank's father). She'd become his legal guardian when he was eleven and the two got along splendidly and were close. Like him and May a bit. Only May wasn't his guardian in a parental sense.

"And Sally Johnson and her roommate are sure to enjoy their time," he answered, touching her cheek briefly. "I really like Sally, she's an interesting character."

"Hopefully not more than the real me," Jemma kidded, raising her eyebrows and tilting her head teasingly.

"That would be impossible," he grinned fondly. "I love you too much for anything to be more."

She blushed before pressing her forehead against his. He nuzzled her nose with his own and allowed his thumb to rest on her hand.

"I win," she whispered, placing her digit gently over his.

"OK," he conceded easily, eyes shining before she kissed him.

There was a knock at the door and they leapt apart. Jemma motioned quickly for Leo to hide under her blanket because he wasn't suppose to be in there with her.

She felt guilty, breaking the rules but they weren't breaking the most important one. They were only talking. Alright, talking and kissing a little but it was their last day together for a while and May had instructed her to say goodbye.

They were going to be in trouble, she knew it. Poor Leo, she shouldn't have pushed him into chatting in her room (not that he'd needed much convincing) while she rechecked her suitcase to ensure she hadn't forgotten anything.

Now he was hiding like a criminal beneath her comforter, trying to make himself as flat as possible and... actually doing a pretty good job.

Maybe they wouldn't be caught. Now she really felt like a criminal. Jemma Simmons did not get up to things like hiding her boyfriend in her room. She was good, she followed the rules. Usually.

"C-come in," she invited unable to hide her apprehension.

"Nervous about the trip?" Skye guessed as she slid the door open and threw her knapsack onto the bed.

It hit Leo in the stomach and he let out an umphh.

Jemma coughed loudly in an attempt to cover him up but Skye weaved around her and lifted the blanket to reveal the top of his body.

"What were you two up to?" She asked amusedly, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms. "Where you about to-"

"Nothing like that!" Jemma cut her off, both her and Leo beet red. "We... Well... It was my idea, just chatting and a few kisses that's it... we didn't-"

"We haven't-" Leo continued.

"Not yet-" she added. "Not that we aren't going to-"

"Of course not in here-" Leo interjected.

"No, no, not-" she began raising her arms.

"Guys stop, just stop," Skye demanded holding out her hands, palms towards them. "I was joking." She shook her head. "And then you made it weird..."

"Isn't weird such a funny word?" Jemma laughed nervously as Leo shoved the cover off, rubbing his stomach and grumbling.

"Why'd you have to throw your bag like a bloody javelin," he muttered. "That really hurt."

"Sorry," Skye apologized, wincing in sympathy. "At least now we know you can hide in a pinch though."

"Mmmm," he grunted still gripping his stomach and Jemma pulled his hand away to inspect it as Skye sat beside them.

"You're fine," she informed him before kissing his face then pinking as she remembered they weren't alone.

"Should I come back later?" Skye chuckled.

Jemma and Leo exchanged a glance before shaking their heads. They were far less likely to get in trouble if they had a third person supervising.

"It's fine," Skye smiled, misreading them. "I'll come back later. I get Simmons all week... but you'd better come say goodbye Fitz."

She took her bag and left them alone again.

"So... Er... You do want to eventually right?" Leo asked her when Skye was out of earshot.

"You mean sex?" she asked, feeling a slight twirl of nervousness. 'There's nothing to be embarrassed about,' she scolded herself. 'It's just part of life, a very nice part of life.'

He nodded, reddening.

"Not here," she told him. "But yes, you?"

He nodded again.

"Well alright then," she said awkwardly.

"All right then," he repeated.

They were silent for a moment.

"It's going to be really hard not being able to talk to you," he finally said, changing the subject.

"Yeah, I wish we could bring our walkie talkies," she sighed and he wrapped his arms around her comfortingly.

"I'll see you in Hawaii sweetheart," he murmured and she buried her face into his shoulder breathing in his scent.

"And we'll go see some shield volcanoes, haha Shield like us," she giggled and savoured the sensation of him laughing with her and kissing the side of her head.

/-/-/

"So what should I call you?" Leo wondered as he and May boarded the ship.

It was small for a cruise ship, only four stories, but it was built for the angry ocean and it was built for speed. He'd have loved to get a look at the engine but Frank wasn't an engineer and Jemma had insisted he stay in character until they arrived at port. She'd also insisted he pack extra sunscreen. She was so thoughtful, helping out him as well as herself to prepare for the mission.

"Mum?" He shot out ideas to May. "Mom? Mama Maggie?"

"Margret," she suggested flatly.

He frowned. "That seems a bit too formal for a parent," he objected. "How about Maggie?"

She gave him a small smile. "Sure Franky."

He grinned back and they showed their passes to the attendant (his pass said he was 19, 19! He wouldn't even be allowed to drink! How had the attendant believed he was that young with his mature demeanor? Hmmph.) and they headed below deck to their room to settle in.

Shield had caught word of an illegal trade occurring on the cruise ship, biological weapons, and they were there to find and stop the perpetrators. He was meant to operate the drones to search for suspicious activity on the ship and inform May as soon as anything was spotted. The drones were recording data, sending it to the whole team so the footage could be watched by them one at a time so that no one would look odd hauled up in their room the entire cruise.

It was an added bonus that it meant they could also enjoy it. They were undercover as happy tourists after all, it was their duty to play the part and hit the arcade before feasting on the buffet.

They passed Jemma and Skye, Sally and Zoe now, on the way and he struggled not rush to comfort Jemma when he saw her hands shaking.

'Skye, what are you doing? Where you too busy frantically being last minute and irresponsible to listen?' He thought irritably before he saw his friend whisper something to Jemma and take her hand. Oh Skye, so kind.

She'd be fine, he told himself, Jemma was a strong-hearted person and she had Skye. Soon she'd be enjoying herself.

The thought helped but it didn't stop him from missing her and wishing she wasn't Sally and he wasn't Frank.

They reached their room and May let him take the top bunk, setting down her luggage on the bottom one while he set up the miniaturized versions of the DWARFS he and Jemma had designed for stealth. The recording wasn't as high quality but they wouldn't attract as much attention to themselves.

"What did you want to do when we have the time?" He asked, thinking of Jemma's suggestion he take the opportunity to bond with his teammate.

"Blend in," she shrugged. Helpful suggestions from agent May.

He leafed through the activity pamphlet. "Oh! Predators and Aliens are both playing tonight!" He exclaimed. "Have you seen them?"

"Alien, Aliens, Alien vs. Predator, who hasn't? As your stepmother I'm going to need to limit your popcorn intake though." She kidded smiling and he grinned back slightly surprised but happy.

Other than missing Jemma like mad, he was glad to be partnered with May. Or Maggie.

/-/-/

Jemma shakily descended the stairs behind her friend below deck. What she wouldn't give to sleep up on the deck under the open sky, she didn't care that the ground would be hard or that it would be chilly at night anything would be preferable to this.

"C'mon Sally," Skye soothed. "You can do it, one more step."

Sally Johnson was claustrophobic. She had been ever since the age of eleven when she'd been trapped in a locker for eight hours, hungry and dehydrated in a prank gone horribly wrong just after her hamster died stuck in a vent. It was an excellent cover to disguise her true fear: being trapped beneath a ninety foot layer of ocean in a small space.

"Would you mind letting me have the top bunk, Zoe," she inquired anxiously. "I'm afraid the bottom bunk is a bit too tight a spot for-"

"Whatever makes you feel better," she assured her.

"Thank you Zoe," she chirped, attempting to calm herself as her hands began to shake. She saw Leo pass by with May, unburdened by the fears she carried and was grateful at least he'd escaped the nightmarish memories. He still had no recollection of the event in the box despite her having told him everything. She resisted the urge to smile at him, stare, reach out. Sally didn't know him.

Why was it so narrow down here? Stupid boats and their tiny hallways. At least they were on the top floor.

"You can do this," Skye whispered, taking her hand and she felt better.

Of course she could, she was a Shield agent. She'd faced worse, it was only a boat. And she wasn't alone.

They reached their room, number 6B, and shuffled inside to set up the monitors for her and Leo's miniature drones.

Jemma's job was not limited to surveillance. She had brought along a number of things to read on biological weapons because, in the event of an attack or an accident, she was in charge of neutralizing it.

"So this is fun," Skye chuckled when they we're finished. "A free cruise and we get to share a bunk. It'll be like a six night sleepover."

"I didn't get to go to many of those Zoe," Jemma told her cheerfully. It was hard to be invited to parties when you were always the youngest in your class. Not that she'd never had any friends. There had been Alison when she was twelve who lived down the street and liked pressing flowers.

"Me neither," Skye informed her giggling. "You know you don't have to say my name every time right? Should we tell scary stories or truth or dare?"

"Scary stories," Jemma decided, grinning mischievously and forgetting her worries. She knew some that were sure to be a hit.

"Oh, so you think you can out-scare me?" Skye challenged grinning back. "You just wait until you hear about the organ player... It isn't the organ you expect."

Jemma laughed, delighted to be spending time with Skye despite missing Leo like a lost brain hemisphere. If nothing went horribly, terribly wrong this should be a really fun almost week.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They talk about sex in this story but I'm not going to write it happening. I have other things to cover and I want to keep the T rating. Still I was trying to capture the cheesy awkward beginning of a relationship (with my limited experience of one so feel free to give pointers) and felt it was something that would come up.
> 
> The last name Low is from Andrew Low and his daughter in law Juliet Gordon Low who was the founder of girl scouts in the US. Andrew Low had a sad life apparently so I wanted to give his last name to someone happy.
> 
> Maggie Chen is the name of a character in Orphan Black murdered by Beth Childs. I like the name Maggie.
> 
> According to the internet, Hawaii has a large number of gastropod (snail) species.
> 
> Shield volcanoes are the type in Hawaii (named I believe for their shape). There are also cinder cone (some found in Mexico) and composite (like Mt. Fuji). Grade nine geology for the win haha. Thank you my old teacher! She was the best.
> 
> Finally, the Fringe reference is room 6B. 6B is the title of a forth season episode where the two universes are merging disastrously at an apartment 6B fueled by the mistake of an elderly woman thinking she is seeing her lost husband's ghost and reaching out to him.


	3. Niobium and Tantalum

"That's cute," Skye commented, pointing to the blue-spotted white bowtie around Jemma's neck.

"It went with the dress," she chirped, skipping a bit at the thought of being out all dressed up. Her regular clothes were wonderful but she liked the wavy, breezy feel of the dark blue dress. And it was always fun wearing her special bowtie. She wondered if Leo would be wearing his matching one before she remembered Sally didn't have a Leo.

She did have a cousin Mark who she wasn't speaking with ever again since he'd sold all her paintings to buy a new tennis racket. Sally's amazing art had been priceless and shame on him for not valuing her talents.

"I had a painting of my cat wearing it before he-who-shall-not-be-named did the dastardly-deed-we-do-not-speak-of Zoe," she let her know loudly.

"Voldomort did what?" Skye questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"That's must-not-be-named, silly Zoe," she corrected. "I'm talking about that thief who sold the best years of my life for a dumb racket!" She raged, channeling her inner Sally. "I poured my soul into those paintings, I left behind friends, potential lovers, time spent in the sunshine to fill the world with beautiful artwork and what does he do? He goes and sells it to- to those ruffians who'll probably hide them away in their mold-ridden basements and never appreciate them. Oh Zoe it's a disaster!"

"Are you going to be like this the whole trip?" Skye giggled.

Someone was out of character, Zoe surely wouldn't belittle her roommate's loss. "Sk-Zoe, you are absolutely right," she agreed, saving them from suspicion. "I should be enjoying myself, I've spent too many years ignoring the wonderful world around me. This trip is my rebirth!"

"Uh...Sally...," Skye said, tapping her shoulder. "People are staring."

Perfect, now she'd definetely be known as the grieving artist. No one would ever guess she was actually a secret agent.

"Let them stare Zoe," she declared taking Skye's arm and heading to the arcade. "We are going to have fun."

/-/-/

They passed May and Leo at the arcade and Jemma struggled to pretend she didn't know them. It was a large room at least, she was optimistic they'd be able to avoid them if they had to.

Skye smiled at May. "Nice dress," she told her, with the air of talking to someone she didn't know and May smiled back.

"You too," she told her breezily.

Jemma smiled as well and glanced at Leo who was indeed wearing his matching bowtie, blue with white spots. He looked nice all dressed up in a good shirt and pants, she wondered if she could pay him a compliment as nonchalantly as Skye had done for May. It couldn't be so hard.

"Why hello there strange person I have never met before," she began and he smiled at her warmly. Was Skye shaking her head slightly? Why was her face like that? Oh! You couldn't call people strange, they could take it the wrong way. "Not that there is anything strange about you... Ummm not that you're boring or ordinary or anything... Unless you want to be ordinary then... I mean how would I know your life's ambition? We have never met before now, complete strangers... Ordinary strangers... Ummm..."

"Sally we should go get in line for DDR before it it gets too long," Skye interjected, widening her eyes at her.

"No one is playing Sk-Zoe...," she protested, confused. "There is no line."

"Well then we better get going," Skye exclaimed, grabbing her arm and Jemma realized she was attempting to rescue her from her train wreck attempt at being smooth.

"It was nice meeting you," May said formerly, waving goodbye.

"And you have wonderful taste in bowties," Leo added, perhaps a little too fondly and earned a disapproving frown from May as Jemma was lead away.

/-/-/

"What?" Leo demanded as May frowned disapprovingly at him. She and Skye had started it and anyone could comment on anyone's bowtie. He'd wanted to comment on a lot of other things, tell her she looked beautiful and that he had overhead her superb back story, but he had held back the comments and spoken like a stranger. An ordinary stranger, poor Jemma... she really wasn't very good at lying on the spot. "I didn't say anything suspicious."

"It's all in your face though," she told him. "Choice of words isn't the only part of keeping a cover. You need to be able to control your expressions. Try this." She put on a poker face.

He mimicked it best he could but she raised an eyebrow.

"Now it just looks like I offended you," she criticized flatly.

He softened it a bit, allowing his eyes to widen.

'Keep your mind blank,' he thought. 'No emotions.'

"That's... Better." She informed him. "I guess."

"What's wrong with it?" He wondered, struggling to remain neutral.

"You look spaced out," she admitted.

He sighed, she made it look so easy.

"Keep working at it," she encouraged, patting his shoulder. "I'm going to see if I can get in a poker game if you don't mind. I'd offer for you to join but..."

"I'm too young," he finished. "You know I still would have been believable as your stepson a few years older." He complained.

She shrugged. "Coulson and I wanted to attract the least attention possible and we had faith you could pull off nineteen."

That was kind of them, having so much confidence in his undercover abilities. He wouldn't let them down.

"See you soon Maggie," he waved.

"Meet you in about an hour Franky," she waved back.

Leo perused the large room of games, finding his gaze drifted over to DDR at the wonderful sound of Jemma's laughter. It looked as if she and Skye were having fun.

"Hey, that's creepy you know, ogling those girls like that," a boy, probably around fifteen or sixteen, warned.

"I'm not...," he protested. "I just... they're laughing really loudly, that's all."

"Uh huh," the boy did not seem to believe him. "Shuffle along creeper." He shooed him with his hands.

"Hey!" He objected even though he suspected he probably had seemed like a creep staring at them like that. Who was this kid? Warden of the game room?

"Milo, what are you doing?" a girl, perhaps a few years older, demanded crossly. "I'm sorry about that," she apologized. "Whatever my brother said to offend you don't take it personally he's just grumpy because he has to miss his stupid bowling tournament."

"We're moving to Hawaii Madeline," he grumbled. "I'm going to be missing a lot more than that. Not that Dad cares, he just stuck us on this dumb boat so he wouldn't have to deal with us while he-"

"Oh my God and now you're complaining about the cruise?" She hissed in frustration.

"Yes I'm complaining about missing six days of school," he countered. "How am supposed to catch up when the new school won't even send me work?"

"How are we related?" She cried but Leo hadn't heard the answer because he had snuck away from the fighting siblings.

He found a machine which played Pac-man and chomped his way to the fourth highest score. When it asked for his name he put in Niobium because he was thinking of Jemma.

Niobium and Tantalum were two elements with similar properties which were found together so often and were so difficult to separate that they had once been thought to be one element, Colombium. He and Jemma's closeness in their final year at the academy had earned them the nickname Columbium from their chemistry professor. Two elements which could be mistaken for one.

He moved onto to other games but came back to Pac-man eventually. When he wrote in his score under the name Niobium again he noticed someone had named themselves Tantalum with a smiley face next it. That person had taken his fourth place score and now he was in fifth.

He looked around and saw Jemma watching him while Skye played skeet ball. She winked and turned back to their friend.

Leo couldn't keep the grin from spreading across his face as he went back to the game, determined to beat her score.

'We'll see who the master of Pac-man is,' he thought, ecstatic at being able to play against Jemma without breaking his cover.

He managed to land himself a third place score and typed in Niobium with a sideways heart next to it before hopping away to play something else.

Ten minutes later he returned and checked the high scores to find Tantalum (with a heart) had bumped him down once again.

They continued for the rest of the hour until they were battling for first place, each managing to knock down the other on their turn.

'Nice try Jemma,' he thought smugly as he came in first again. 'But I still beat you!'

"Ready to go see the movie?" May inquired behind him and he jumped. "You sure you can handle horror?" She smiled.

"Yes!" He declared. "You surprised me sneaking up on me like that, that's all."

"OK," she said, not at all sounding in agreement of his statement.

"I'll just type in my name," he mumbled, a bit sorry the game was over but looking forward to the movie with his friend.

Niobium heart Ta was in first place when he trailed behind May to the theater.

/-/-/

"I thought you'd seen that one before," May teased as they reached their room.

"It was still scary!" He defended as he fished out his pajamas. "Not everyone has the perfect poker face."

"That's sweet, you thought that was a poker face," she smiled and he rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm gonna go change in the bathroom," he let her know, clothes and toothbrush a bundle in his arms.

"Knock before you come in!" she called after him as he left.

In the hall he passed Milo and Madeline again (the pair sounded almost like a children's book) who were arguing heatedly.

"I can't believe you lost the key loser," Madeline was ranting. "How do you not know where it is?"

"I told you I put it in my pocket but now it's gone!" He shot back.

"Did you check your sock?" She demanded.

"Why would I-," he began, reaching into it. "Oh, hey, it's here."

"You are such an idiot!" she exclaimed, snatching it. "I saw you put it on there five minutes ago."

"I don't remember that..." He mumbled, bewildered.

"Of course you don't," she sighed, herding him into the room. "Milo, sometimes-"

The door slammed.

Leo really hoped some sleep would lighten those two up. Or that he'd be able to avoid their grouchiness for the next five days.

/-/-/

Jemma was awake, still anxious about sleeping in a small space on the ocean (and about the organ man, it had been the organs she expected...unfortunately), when she heard the sound of familiar footsteps in the hall.

Silently, she slid down from her bunk and carefully opened the door to view Leo's back as he climbed the stairs at the end of the hallway.

Even without seeing his face she knew something was wrong by the way his shoulders sagged and his hand shook when he gripped the railing.

So she grabbed her shoes and left to follow him, shutting the door quietly behind her.

She found him on the deck, looking out over the water. It was chilly and she shivered in her thin pajama shirt. She should have brought her sweater.

For a minute she just watched him, standing small and seeming almost defeated as he watched the waves, while she debated attracting his attention. It would be a complete break from character to go to him now but as she heard him exhale a shaky, miserable breath her concern with keeping her cover fadded.

"Leo?" She called softly, gliding towards him.

He turned around and she could see clearly in his expression that something was wrong.

"Hey," he whispered, putting forth no attempt to pretend he didn't recognize her as she settled beside him.

"What happened?" She asked gently, keeping a few inches between them in case someone was watching.

His attention moved back to the water before he answered.

"I had a nightmare," he told her and the tone of his voice let her know this was something worse than the dream where you forget your pants at home.

"About the box?" She guessed because she had been expecting this to happen eventually.

He nodded and his eyes moistened.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She offered and he shrugged.

She waited, shivering again as a cool breeze blew their hair.

"You'll catch your death out here just wearing a shirt," he fretted, coming back a bit to his old self as he removed his own sweater and handed it to her.

"What about you?" She worried, hesitating.

"I think I have a thicker shirt than you do," he insisted even though his T-shirt looked about as thin as her pajama top. "I'm fine," he assured her, seeing she was unconvinced and waving it in front of her. "I needed to cool off anyway, get some air."

She wasn't sure if he was being honest or stubborn but she gave up her argument, took it and pulled it on over her head. If she saw goosebumps on his skin she'd hand it back.

He returned to being withdrawn and neither of them spoke for a while as they listened to the sound of the water and gazed out into the darkness.

"We were falling," he began suddenly and she turned towards him. "We were falling out of the airplane in the box and we were so scared, I'm pretty sure we were screaming.

"We did scream," she whispered, "until-"

"Until you hit your head," he finished sadly and she nodded. "It made such an awful sound and I was afraid..." He swallowed and paused before continuing.

"And I broke my arm, I heard the crunch and it must have hurt when it really happened but it didn't in the dream, it just felt wrong and terrible. And then I woke up and I forgot for a minute where I was and I searched for the walkie talkie but-"

"But it wasn't there," she ended his sentence. All those nights she'd woken up shaking from her own nightmares he'd been able to come to her, he'd been a short call away and now the one night he needed her he'd been unable to reach her. It seemed so unfair.

"You came anyway though," he said, managing a smile.

"Because I heard your stomping," she teased, relieved.

He almost looked offended. "I don't stomp."

"Well then your quiet ninja footsteps must have alerted me," she kidded.

"That's some hearing you have," he chuckled, warming her up and chasing away her own horrible memories. How badly she wanted to cross the distance between them and hold him but she forced herself to remain where she was.

He sighed and his face fell again into unhappiness.

"There's something else isn't there?" She pressed lightly.

His lip trembled and a few tears leaked down his cheeks.

"Before we fell," he said quietly. "I saw Ward. We were pleading with him, begging him not to, but he did it anyway and I know that really happened."

She nodded and risked wiping the tears from his face. Who would be up at this hour anyhow? "That really did happen."

He let out a sob. "I thought he was our friend. I thought he cared about us but he still hurt us... hurt you and I... I knew it happened but it just didn't seem real until I saw it. How could he do that Jemma? How does someone you trust with your life turn around and try to kill you? I do-don't understand," he was truly sobbing now, shaking as tears streamed down his face. "It d-doesn't make any... b-bloody sense f-for the world t-..to w-work that way. I just d-don't understand... I don't understand." He repeated the phrase over and over like whimper and she felt her heart wrenching out of her chest at the pain in his voice.

Sally was gone, she was Jemma again and just then she didn't care who saw that she pulled him into her arms and held him as he cried.

"It's alright," she soothed, stroking his hair as he buried his face into her shoulder. "Shhh, it's OK. It's over. It's over and I promise I won't let anyone hurt you like that ever again. It's alright."

"I... W-wont l-let them... hurt... y-you e-either-r," he managed and she held him closer.

"I know," she murmured. "I know you won't. And the world isn't all bad," she informed brightly. "There's still you and me and our family and friends. And there's sunshine and robots,"

"And monkeys," he added, sounding maybe a bit more cheerful.

"And monkeys," she smiled, reminded of that small spark of what had almost been happiness as they waited beneath the ocean for the air to run out and discussed their place in the universe. There had been light even then because they'd still had each other. Like they still did now.

"And popcorn shrimp," she went on as he lifted his head and pressed his cheek against hers. "And balloons," she felt him smile, filling with joy as she thought of more ways to keep the grin on his face. "And big orange cats who like to cuddle and- Whales!" She exclaimed causing him to start as she pulled slightly away to peer over the side.

She'd heard the telltale sound of air rushing out of a blowhole.

"Leo it's a humpback!" She gasped. "See the white pectoral fins. Oh wow, they're almost glowing!"

It was so close to the boat and it was huge. Even at four stories up it seemed gigantic.

"They migrate from the north this time of year to calve in southern waters," she bubbled excitedly, hopping a bit in his arms. "They may even be traveling from California to Hawaii like us."

He beamed at her and hopped too before staring down at the gorgeous creature. Another one appeared beside it and they laughed delightedly as it sprayed misty water into the air with a pooffff.

"You think they're friends?" He asked her.

"Humpbacks are known to be friendly," she informed him excitedly. "They could be."

"They are," he decided. "And they're going on an adventure together."

She wasn't entirely sure the whales would think of migration as an adventure so much as the baleen equivalent of the yearly Christmas trip to Grandma's house. Still fun and full of surprises but nothing new.

Even so she caught herself with her eyes locked onto his face as he spoke and it lit up like dawn and she kissed him, swiftly because they were already breaking the rules as it was, before turning back to the whales.

"You make the world a better place Jemma," he said and she could hear his love for her in his voice, see it in his eyes when they glanced at each other once more.

"So do you Leo," she replied returning it in her words and her gaze.

As long as they still had each other, she knew she could see the good in even the worst of times. All she had to do was have him beside her.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot make a sound to describe the blow if a blowhole. pofff was the closest I got.
> 
> Humpbacks migrate south for the winter (according to wiki) which would mean this story takes place mid-late fall. Blue Bumble Bees could have occurred in September.
> 
> Also according to wiki they are super friendly even to other species like dolphins and grey whales. They are also curious and have been known to approach boats which I do remember from whale watching in Halifax. Which reminds me, Happy Canada Day. Bonne Fête du Canada.
> 
> Simmons' rant was inspired, of course, by T.R.A.C.K.S.
> 
> The Fringe reference is the names Milo and Madeline. They are siblings from the third season episode The Plateau. Milo is mentally challenged and his sister Madeline signs him up for a drug trial to try to help him. The drugs make him super smart but also somehow uncaring and he starts killing people with elaborate traps to accomplish his goals. Poor Madeline just wants her brother back to the way he was.
> 
> Tantalum and Niobium are real elements.


	4. The 084

Leo and Jemma walked along the deck after the whales departed, enjoying each other's company.

"You were excellent as heartbroken Sally," he praised warmly and she grinned at him.

"I thought you were an excellent Pac-Man," she replied and they giggled.

There was a track on the second level of the deck, for joggers, and the pair strolled around it, gazing up at the stars.

Jemma's face lit up brighter than the moonlight as she pointed out familiar constellations and he had an incredible urge to kiss her.

Why not? They were alone except for the sky, it was the middle of the night. No one was watching them.

"Jemma," he called, giving her a quick peck when she looked his way. "You're it!" He laughed before running down the track.

"Leo come back here!" she exclaimed but she was laughing too, probably one of his favorite sounds in the world, and she chased after him.

They zig zagged playfully on and off the path and the grass in the middle, calling out teasingly to each other.

Soon she caught him and he let her pull him towards her and cover him with kisses. "I'm it, I'm it," he giggled, not really wanting her to stop.

"I know," she told him, kissing him again on the mouth and making his head spin. "I like this part though."

"Yeah me too," he agreed, touching their foreheads together and grinning.

What a wonderful night it was, he didn't even mind that he was starting to get cold but Jemma must have noticed the goosebumps that formed on his skin because she pulled off his sweater and handed it back to him.

"We should go back down anyway," she informed him.

"Yeah I guess," he agreed reluctantly, putting it back on. It was warm and it smelled like her. He wondered how long that would last, hopefully a while.

They climbed down the stairs together and stopped in front of her room.

"Are you going to be OK?" She worried, scanning his face.

"I'm feeling much better now," he assured her because he was. She had a way of making him happy however scared or sad he was, like honey soothing a sore throat.

He gazed around to be sure they were alone before kissing her softly once more that night.

"Goodnight," he whispered.

"Sweet dreams," she wished him in a hushed voice, staring at him with shining eyes and a small smile that made his insides squirm delightedly.

She touched his cheek then disappeared into her room and he dazedly returned to his.

The lamp was on when he slipped in and May was awake, reading a book.

"Late night stroll?" She inquired, taking him in. "I'm guessing that isn't your hair on your sweater, it's kinda long."

He flushed and averted his eyes. She seemed unimpressed, disappointed even.

"Fitz you do understand why we are undercover don't you?" She scolded. "This isn't a vacation."

"I know," he mumbled.

"What happened then?" She asked, setting down her book.

He played with a lose piece of thread at the bottom of his sweater unhappily. "I had a nightmare," he said quietly. "About Ward, when he... dropped us. And I went up for air, just for some fresh air and Jemma followed me- not that I'm blaming her," he added swiftly. "I take full responsibility for what happened. I didn't try to to pretend I didn't know who she was, I was so scared and... and hurt and confused. She was cheering me up, that's all. I'm sorry, I..." He couldn't think of a way to apologize, a way to make May understand that neither of them had meant for the meeting to happen, it simply had. He'd needed Jemma and somehow she'd known that so they'd found themselves together. It didn't excuse them putting the mission in jeapardy but it wasn't a purposeful violation of the rules.

May wasn't revealing anything in her expression and he waited anxiously for her response.

"Is this the first time you've dreamt about this?" She asked and he nodded.

Her face softened. "Are you OK?"

"I am now," he informed her, relieved she wasn't furious with him.

"Good. Go back to sleep then," she instructed.

"That's it?" He blurted out, shocked she wasn't going to lecture him or tell him how disappointed she was.

"That's it. Just don't do it again," she ordered.

"I won't," he vowed, climbing back into his bunk.

"I have a trick, to keep away the nightmares if you need one." She offered.

"You have nightmares?" He gasped.

"Everyone has nightmares," she told him simply.

Oh. That made sense, May was strong but her heart wasn't made of stone, even she must have gotten scared sometimes.

"What's the trick?" He inquired, hanging his head over the side of the bunk so that he was looking at her upside down.

The corner of her mouth tugged up slightly and he realized he must have looked a little silly poking his head out like he was. He would have tried to turn his neck so he was the right way up but he was afraid of tumbling off his bed.

"You have to keep telling yourself 'Please don't dream tonight, please don't dream tonight.' Keep doing that until you fall asleep." She explained.

"That seems a simple enough," he commented. "And that works for you?"

"Sometimes," she shrugged. "It usually helps. Now get some sleep, it's our shift in the morning."

"Alright," he agreed. "Thanks May, Sleep well."

"You too Fitz," she answered, turning off the light.

He tucked her trick into the back of his mind to try another time because he was certain the nightmares were over for tonight.

He was right, he dreamt instead of Jemma. They were swimming with the whales, having an adventure. It made little sense, for starters all four of them could breath underwater (something none of them could do in the real world being mammals and all) but it was a sweet, happy dream and he slept soundly that night.

/-/-/

Jemma felt like happy static was sparking back and forth between her toes and the tips of her hair as she quietly shut the door behind her, closing her eyes for a moment to remember the warm feel of Leo's kiss on her lips.

When she opened them she noticed the light was on beside Skye's bunk.

Her friend was sitting cross legged on her bed with a dollar bill and a paper cup in front of her. She seemed upset about something and jumped when Jemma entered.

"Where did you go?" She asked, a slight quiver in her voice.

"Just for a walk," she told her, sitting down on the bed in front of her and the items. "Are you alright Skye? You look a little pale."

Skye swallowed and gazed up at her. "I need you to stay calm when I tell you this OK?" She demanded. "I am this close to losing it," she held up her thumb and finger less than an inch apart, "so I need you not freak out on me."

"I can do that," she agreed gently. "No freaking out for me, or you either." she giggled, trying to lighten her friend's expression.

"Simmons... I'm... I'm a...," she closed her eyes and took a breath. "I'm an 084."

Jemma frowned. "You're a what? Skye if this is some sort of metaphor I'm not-"

The cup floated into the air, level with her nose.

"Wha- How are you?" She fumbled, the pitch of her voice raising. "You're doing that?"

"Yeah," Skye whispered.

Jemma ran her hand through the air over and under the cup. "But, b-but... That's not possible." She exhaled disbelievingly. "There's no such thing as... what do you mean you're an 084?! Skye what..."

"That's freaking out!" Skye complained, sounding on edge. "Simmons you can't flip out on me, then I'm going to flip out too and-"

"What do you mean you're an 084?" Jemma interjected, trying to calm herself.

Skye wasn't an object of unknown origins, she was Skye. This wasn't making any sense.

"Shield found me. They found me in a village in the Hunan province of China." She told her slowly. "Everyone in the village had been killed, except me. They were protecting me. The Shield agents who found me knew I wasn't human and they brought me with them to the US..."

Jemma listened in stunned silence as Skye told her story, believing it because of her unwavering trust in her teammate.

"And now this," she finished, gesturing unhappily to the cup which had fallen back onto the bed with a soft thud. "What the hell am I?"

"Oh Skye," Simmons breathed, pulling her into a hug. It seemed tonight she was going to be Jemma the teddy bear, hugging people in need, but she was alright with that. "You're exactly what you've always been, you're our friend."

Skye let out a breath of relief and wrapped her arms around her. "Thank you." She said quietly. "I needed to hear that." She moved away, wiping her eyes. "You really don't care?" She wondered.

"Well," Jemma began, not wanting to be inaccurate. "I am concerned of course. Why are these powers suddenly appearing? I'll need to take a few blood and tissue samples when we get back, run a few tests, make sure you're alright but you say perhaps you were displaying these abilities as a baby? You've been fine all these years, I see no reason for that to change. Especially if you were born that way... You'll just need to let me know if you feel a little off. Maybe avoid using your powers until we get back and I can have a proper look at what's going on, just to be on the safe side..."

Skye took her hand, stopping her nervous ramblings. "Thank you," she repeated. "Maybe go easy on the blood samples though," she chuckled. "You almost drained me dry last time with all that poking."

"I'm sure I didn't take enough blood for that," Jemma started to say before she realized Skye was kidding. "We'll take care of you," she promised, trying to push down her apprehension. If Skye had natural superpowers she'd probably be perfectly fine. It was how her body was designed to be, nothing like the dangerous effects of the the serum from the centipede project.

"Maybe don't say anything to the others yet," Skye cautioned. "Until we get back at least."

"You want me, Jemma Simmons, to keep a secret?" she asked incredulously.

"Ummm, yeah..." She answered. "I mean c'mon Simmons, you keep secrets all the time right? Like... I mean if you were captured by the enemy you wouldn't spill would you?"

"That's not the same at all, I mean... Well," Jemma pondered, "technically an 084 is a Shield secret... So I can just use my Shield training..."

"Which is?" Skye inquired raising an eyebrow.

"Tell the enemy nothing!" Jemma declared.

"You needed training for that?" Skye teased and Jemma scrunched her nose at her.

"OK," Skye giggled, "pretend I'm one of our teammates, say Trip." Her voice deepened slightly. "So Simmons, see any strange things lately?"

"Skye is not telekinetic!" She said quickly. "Oh... no that was very bad. That did not go well did it?"

Skye was shaking with laughter. "Good thing we aren't supposed to talk to anyone until the trip is over," she managed after a few seconds. "Do you want to try that again?"

"Yes please," Jemma blushed, but she was glad her friend had cheered up.

They practiced for another half hour until they were both giggling so much they couldn't speak in full sentences then decided to go to sleep.

"Goodnight Skye," Jemma wished her, snuggling under her blanket.

"Goodnight Simmons," Skye replied.

Jemma fell asleep feeling wonderful. Good things happened when you cheered people up, it made you happier too.

She dreamt that night of being underwater but she wasn't afraid. Leo was there and so were the whales and all of them were friends. Together they met a dragonfish and a whale shark and a giant squid which didn't even try to eat them. It was a wonderful adventure.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Fringe reference is May's advice to avoid nightmares. It is a trick Walter teaches Peter when he is having nightmares (perfectly reasonable when you've been abducted).
> 
> So Skye has super powers. It is part of this universe of stories I am writing and I figured now was as good a time as any to introduce them. Not sure how much they will feature in the story but they will probably come up later.
> 
> Also for everyone missing Triplett and Coulson they had the first shift watching the drones and will likely show up soon. Not to worry!


	5. What the Hell is Happening

The next morning Jemma and Skye decided to explore the ship, perhaps start a few casual conversations with the passengers to see if anyone had seen anything that was out of the ordinary.

By the pool they met a couple with two young children who were splashing in the shallow water while their parents soaked in the sunshine. Both Jemma and Skye wore swimsuits to fit in, however Jemma didn't think she was ready to go into the pool just yet so she dipped her feet in and chatted with the parents while Skye dodged the older child's cannon balls. The spray of water felt nice on her hot skin but not nice enough to tempt her into it.

They were an ordinary pair, except that the women seemed unusually forgetful.

"Doesn't miss a thing at home," her husband teased affectionately, " but as soon as we take some time off her brain just shuts down."

"Bruno the brain is taking a vacation too," she chuckled and Jemma smiled at her.

They met up with a rather grumpy teenage girl named Madeline who was upset with her brother for catching a 'bug' (not a word Jemma would use) on their vacation and she crossly told them she'd kick his butt if he gave it to her.

A little boy named Max was scurrying around the ship unescorted and Skye and Jemma found out he was the captain's son when his mother let him into the control room for lunch.

They listened to a boat tour on an mp3 player provided by the cruise at a small stand, having a bit of fun on the side of gathering information. Skye had her own headphones but Jemma had to buy a pair from the vendor. They were expensive but cheaply made and the left one didn't work properly at first. She wished she'd thought to pack her own pair.

On the tour, a sweet older couple who introduced themselves as Alice and Derek offered them a look in the engine room later that day. Derek was an excellent photographer and claimed he could get them in by saying he 'worked for National Geographic.'

Jemma was uncomfortable with the lie and Skye had no interest in engines so they politely declined but did agree to meet them the next day and view the pictures they'd taken. Leo would have loved that, he probably would have gone with them even.

After the tour, they began a conversation with an older man named Oscar who was traveling with his adult son down on the second floor below deck, which had the dining hall as well as Leo and May's room. He was shaking his head and marveling at the fact that his son had forgotten the ending of Aliens.

"He's only seen it about forty times," he mused. "But he still kept asking me what was going to happen. Probably some joke I don't understand."

Skye was informing him that she didn't understand the joke either when Jemma noticed a teenage boy wandering dazedly through the hallway.

He was pale, his eyes glazed over and he stumbled towards them, about four rooms away.

Jemma left Skye and Oscar, still chatting, to see if he needed help.

"Hello," she greeted brightly. "Are you alright? You seem a little under the weather."

He grunted at her, and she noticed his mouth hung open and he was drooling slightly.

"What's your name?" She asked gently. "Are you lost?"

He screamed and tackled her against the wall, kneeing her in the stomach and knocking the breath out of her before trying to claw at her face. She managed to hold his arms back but he tried to bite her and she flinched, expecting to feel the the tearing pain of teeth in her flesh before something hit him hard from the side and ripped him away from her, spinning her around before she fell to her knees.

/-/-/

Leo sat beside May watching the screens and munching on spicey popcorn shrimp he'd taken up from the dinning hall (a full buffet all day!). Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and he was beginning to wonder if they had gotten the wrong cruise ship.

"Be patient," she instructed. "This is only the second day, we have no idea when they are planning to make the deal."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," he agreed, watching an elderly couple try to con their way into the engine room and debating whether that was funny or suspicious. It worked and they grinned at each other as they were led inside and took pictures of themselves beside the machinery. He decided on funny.

He heard Jemma and Skye talking to a man down the hall, through the door not the drones, they were close. They had been chatty all day he'd noticed, probably trying to get information from people. It was in stark contrast to Coulson and Trip who sat relaxing by the pool, likely exhausted from their night shift watching the drones. He really hoped they hadn't caught his and Jemma's late night meeting.

On the monitor he noticed Jemma approaching the teenage boy, Milo, he'd met the other day and wondered amusedly if he would warn her about the 'creeper' from the arcade.

Something was wrong though, he could tell from her body language that she was nervous and he heard the apprehension in her voice from just outside their door.

Without warning, Milo cried out and attacked her like some feral animal, slamming her against the wall and hitting her hard in the stomach.

"Jemma!" He shouted, bolting out the door and slamming into him, knocking him away from Jemma and falling to the floor on top of him.

Milo was a mass of raw, wild rage and he elbowed Leo in the gut before rolling over onto him and sinking his teeth deep into the place between his neck and his shoulder. He felt him tear painfully through his skin and down into the muscle and screamed, kicking and clawing at him to get him away but it only made him bite deeper.

There was the sound of a shot and Milo let go and collapsed onto him, still breathing. He turned his head hazily to see May holding an ICER and Jemma springing forward to push Milo off of him.

Skye and May restrained the boy and he was blearily aware of someone saying they should tie him up before he felt Jemma's hand on the side of his face and gazed up at her to see her examining his wound with wide, bright eyes.

"Is it bad," he asked weakly, feeling blood leaking down both sides of his shoulder and staining his shirt.

"Just try to relax," she soothed, stroking his cheek gently. "It isn't bleeding too much so he must have missed your major blood vessels."

"He bit me," he exclaimed, shocked. "He was fine yesterday and now he's... He's gone insane. What the hell is happening?" It hurt when he spoke and he grimaced as more blood spilled out of him.

"I don't know," she told him softly. "But you need to calm down."

"OK," he agreed shakily.

"Skye, go wash your hands and bring back some clean paper towels," she commanded.

"Is he OK?" She worried.

"He's fine," she smiled first at Skye then at him. "We just need to stop the bleeding."

Skye gave one last glance at the scene before darting down the hall past a bewildered looking older gentleman.

May had found some rope and was tying up Milo, Leo dreaded explaining this to his sister. What the hell had gotten into him? What if he had rabies? He hadn't thought humans went rabid like that from it, unless this had to do with the biological weapon...unless it was something new... Did this mean he had it now?

"Jemma," he squeaked, panicked again. "Do you think... Is that contagious?" he motioned towards Milo with his arm.

"Stop moving around," she said firmly but gently, taking his hand. "You're fine and when Skye comes back we'll get you good as new." She continued to rub the side of his face comfortingly. "Everything is going to be fine."

He was scared and he had no idea what was going on but he believed her and managed to relax, calmed by her presence and knowing she was taking care of him. At least she hadn't been hurt. If he had to do it over he'd still get bitten if it meant keeping her safe.

/-/-/

"Ow," Leo winced as she swabbed disinfectant over the bite. They were in the kitchen where she had access to water and sterile surfaces.

"I need to clean the wound," she told him apologetically. "The human mouth is filled with bacteria, you could get infected with Ekinella corrodins or Staphylococcus aureus..." She fussed. It was horribly deep, it must really hurt, and it had been so close to his carotid artery, another inch up his neck and... And if he got an infection they were far away from any hospital.

The radios were down and no one's cell phones were working, something was jamming up the signals. Trip and Coulson were trying to figure out what was going on and Leo would join them once she was finished.

The boat had turned around but it would still be almost two days until they reached shore and they were disappointingly underprepared for treating this sort of wound. She wasn't even sure the ship had antibiotics. And what if he was infected by the same thing Milo had?

"Why do you always have to be the hero?" she scolded, more frightened than angry. "Why do you always have to risk your life-"

"For you?" He finished irritably. "Hmm, let's think about that one for a minute shall we?" He grumbled, obviously put off by her tone. "Why would I want to save the life of the woman I love? That seems like an easy-"

"You know I didn't mean it that way," she interjected, narrowing her eyes and shaking her head at him. "And sit still," she snapped, fear making her impatient.

"Well sorry for squirming a bit when my neck is all shredded to pieces," he shot back. "And what did you mean exactly then?"

She opened her mouth to shoot back something but found she herself didn't really know what she'd meant. Why were they arguing? He needed her to take care of him and keep her head, he was probably frightened. Leo knew the dangers of human bites.

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "I'm not angry with you, you just... I just would really rather keep you."

"I know," he said softly, taking her hand. "I'm sorry if I scared you."

He smiled at her and she returned it fondly however her chest tightened at the thought of him getting sick. Of him losing that gorgeous smile and becoming the screaming, raging mess she'd seen in the hall.

Poor kid, she'd help him though. Milo would be fine. His sister had been a mess too, shouting at them and demanding to know what was wrong with her brother. But they had few answers. When he'd been unconscious, Jemma had taken a blood sample to examine when she was finished with Leo however all they knew for now was that the boy had a high fever and was attempting to attack anyone who got within a few feet of him. It was a good thing May had tied him up.

"Try to hold still for me, alright sweetheart?" she instructed, struggling to keep her voice from shaking as she took in the torn flesh again. "I know this hurts but it's almost over. You just need a few stitches. I'm going to numb the area and then sew you up, good as new. Hopefully it won't even leave a scar, unless you want a battle wound." she added jokingly and he chuckled. "You're being very brave, I just need you to hold still a tiny bit longer for me OK?"

"OK." He complied courageously and she kissed his forehead before continuing.

"Jemma...," he began anxiously after a minute. "Am I going to turn into a zombie?"

She almost laughed at the question except she realized he was being serious. Milo's illness admittedly could be some form of rabies-like virus but saying he might become a zombie seemed ridiculous. Milo wasn't dead, just... rabid.

He stared at her, eyes wide and scared. She finished the final stitch and took both his hands in her own.

"We have no idea what this is," she reminded him gently. "But you're going to be OK. Everyone is going to be fine because we are going to fix this. We don't even know how or if it spreads. It might not even be capable of being transmitted from person to person."

"But-" he tried to say however she cut him off.

"I don't want you panicking over something that probably isn't even going to happen." she insisted. "A few of the other passengers have come down with a fever and none of them were bitten. It could be completely unrelated, but if it is chances are it spreads some other way."

May and Skye were quarantining anyone with an elevated body temperature, just in case. She would join them after she was finished with the blood sample to examine the passengers. There was a doctor aboard, thankfully, who was already looking into it.

"Like how?" He asked but she shook her head as she taped a square of gauze over the injury because she had no answer. It could be anything, the food, the pool water, the bedding.

"You'll be fine," she said for what felt like the hundredth time and she wasn't sure which one of them she was trying to convince. "Now put on a clean shirt and let's go help the others."

She tossed him the shirt May had brought down but he didn't react quickly enough and it hit him in the face.

"Sorry!" She exclaimed, worried she'd hurt him but he grinned and balled it up before tossing it back at her.

"Careful," she laughed, catching it. "We don't want a repeat of the great laundry fight of 2006."

"It was 2005," he chuckled, coming up and wrapping his arms around her before kissing her.

"Was it?" She asked dazedly before they kissed again. It made her feel lightheaded and wonderful sparks shot through her.

There was a loud, low hum and the lights went out, leaving them in total darkness.

The engine must have stopped because it became eerily quiet before someone, somewhere started screaming.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Fringe reference is the older couple Alice and Derek. They are the couple from the third season episode 6B and in the show they really did trick people into letting them into places by saying Derek worked for National Geographic. Haha. They belong to the show's creators.
> 
> The laundry fight (really of 2005) is from notappeper's story Oh To Be Young and was super adorable! Thanks for letting me use it here!
> 
> So zombies, well sort of. But it may not be what you think exactly. Feel free to tell me your thoughts on the plot direction. Haha. The symptoms are inspired a lot by rabies plus Zombie movies.
> 
> The potential bacterial infections are from a website on human bite hazards.


	6. Infected

"Let's see what's going on with you shall we?" Jemma said kindly to the woman who sat on the bottom bunk between her children and her husband. "Mrs. Foster was it?"

They were in the family's room, the open window providing light in the absence of electricity.

"Jen is fine," she told her, smiling, and her husband took her hand.

"Alright Jen, I'm going to need to see your arm please," Jemma requested. "We're just going to take some blood."

The woman nodded and Jemma took a blood sample before checking her temperature.

101 degrees fahrenheit, she definitely had a fever. Now she was gazing just above Jemma, a bewildered expression on her face.

"What's on your head?" She mumbled fogily.

Jemma ran a hand over her hair but there was nothing.

"There's nothing on her head Jen," Mr. Foster told her, shooting Jemma an anxious gaze, demanding without words for an explanation.

"Some of the others have began hallucinating," she informed them solemnly. "Before they fall asleep and..." she stopped herself from finishing because the older child was looking at her with wide, frightened eyes.

"So that green thing's not really there then?" Jen asked and Jemma and Mr. Foster shook their heads.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Al, could you... take them, go play at the arcade or... or catch that movie with the talking guinea pigs."

Jemma watched with a hot lump in her throat as Jen said goodbye to her family. She managed to fool the younger child with a small smile but her eldest and her husband shot her a troubled look as they left.

They had to stop this thing Jemma resolved determinedly, whatever the hell it was.

"How long?" Jen demanded once they'd left.

"Until you're-" Jemma began.

"Until I'm like the others," she finished, visibly struggling to remain calm.

Jemma sighed. "It seems to take around eight hours from the onset of the symptoms. Memory loss, disorientation, little things most people may not have noticed. A few hours later there's a fever, hallucinations."

"I've been forgetting stuff since after the audio tour," she informed her. "This morning Al took the kids to mini putt so I could go. He doesn't really have the patience for tours anyway and those damn headphones would have set him off on a rant." She shook her head.

Jemma scoffed. "I know! Almost five dollars and they barely even work."

"What a scam," Jen smiled. Then her eyes grew bright and her expression darkened. "That gives me maybe what? Four hours?" A trickle of blood dripped out if her nose as she spoke. "What is happening to me?" She exclaimed fearfully, touching her upper lip and seeing the red on her finger.

"It's alright," Jemma assured her. "It happens with this... illness. Usually earlier on, but it seems benign. It's probably just for show, the parasite is designed to scare people."

"W-what do you mean?" She wondered shakily as Jemma handed her a tissue.

Oh right, the passengers didn't know.

Her and her team were guessing that this was the result of the biological weapon being released in the ship. The sabotage of the power supply, which Leo was now trying to Fix along with Oscar who was a retired electrician, and the jamming of the communications devices, which Skye and Coulson were still looking for the source of, pointed to this being an intentional release. They had been wrong about the nature of the crime planned for this trip. This wasn't a purchase, it was a demonstration. Or an attack.

"It's... Well..." Jemma fumbled over what to tell her.

"This is an attack isn't it?" Jen guessed, still dabbing her nose and she sighed before nodding.

"We believe so, yes," she told her.

Jen closed her eyes and her lip trembled. "But you're Shield right?" She inquired opening them and staring hopefully at Jemma. "You can fix this?"

"We're going to do the best we can," she assured her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Jen sniffed and took her hand. "Thank you," she whispered but Jemma didn't really feel as if she deserved it yet.

She gave the woman's hand a squeeze and forced a smile before packing up to move on to the next infected person.

They were nowhere near close to saving anyone so far. The blood samples of the infected passengers had been free of any sign of bacteria or viruses but high in eosinophils and basophils (kinds of white blood cells involved in allergic reactions and fighting off parasites) suggesting the disease was parasitic. Which would be very helpful if the bloody ship had any sort of antibiotics or was able to radio anyone on the mainland who did but they were stuck in the middle of the ocean without anything to treat it or even a CT machine or an MRI to get a better look and they had painfully few diagnostic tools to figure out what it was.

And now this poor brave woman was sick and so was Oscar's son and almost a quarter of the 82 passengers and crew and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

Why hadn't she been more prepared? Why had she assumed she would have access to the equipment she needed? Why couldn't she remember what she'd brought along with her? She kept needing to recheck her supplies.

Among other things, she had pain medication, a microscope which was hooked up to a battery now and being used by the doctor (John) and a small diagnostic kit she'd forgotten she'd packed until John had asked.

To make matters worse she couldn't keep from seeing the nasty bite on Leo's neck whenever she closed her eyes. He probably hadn't caught what the other passengers had but there was a good chance it would become infected which was just as dangerous. How long would they be stuck out here?

Was she going to have to watch helplessly as the sick passengers turned into screaming, unrecognizable versions of themselves? Was she going to have to watch, unable to stop it, as Leo became sicker and sicker until...

'Stop it,' she scolded herself. 'This isn't helping.' But her thoughts were not listening to her, their direction seemingly out of her control, and she fought to keep her expression calm.

Jemma bid Jen goodbye and felt the world spinning around her as she made her way to the washroom. She was so upset and disoriented she went the wrong way and had to turn around, however when she arrived the wonderful darkness told her she was alone (no one with a flashlight) so she locked the door behind her and slid to the floor trying to cry quietly.

She pressed her back against the wall which felt cool on her skin, even through her shirt, as her mind raced out of her control.

She saw the faces of Jen's family as they'd said goodbye, the look in Madeline's eyes as she watched her brother snarling and snapping like a rabid dog. She heard Leo's screaming as Milo bit into his skin and saw that horrible wound all over again. It was all too much and it was overwhelming her.

'What is the matter with you?' She thought angrily. 'There are people depending on you, get a hold of yourself.'

But she couldn't and she continued to cry into her knees in the darkness. She felt dizzy, unable to focus.

The lights flickered back on and she sniffed as she glanced up at them and heard the hum of the engine resume.

Leo and Oscar had done it. They'd fixed it and now the ship was moving again.

She laughed, feeling a rush of affection for her wonderful, clever love.

Grinning and feeling hopeful again, she rose to splash cool water over her hot face.

A chill ran down her spine as she caught her reflection in the mirror and she brushed her fingers under her nose, her breath quickening as she felt her warm sticky blood on their tips.

She tore through her bag to find the thermometer and shoved it under her tongue waiting impatiently until it beeped to see the temperature.

101 degrees, she had a fever. Her nose was bleeding, she was forgetting things and as she gazed back at the mirror she saw hazy light blue ribbons dancing around it which she knew weren't actually there.

"Oh no," she gasped.

She was infected.

/-/-/

"Stop looking at me like that," Leo told Trip over his shoulder as he examined the power grid.

"Looking like what?" Trip asked feigning innocence. As if he didn't know.

"Like I'm about to start screaming and snapping at people like poor Old Yeller," he informed him grumpily. "If you shoot me because I had to sneeze-"

"I'm not going to shoot you," he assured him. "Fitz you know that's the last thing I want to do, even with an ICER."

"Yeah, but if I do turn you'd better," he warned. "I won't have you letting me gnaw people to bits because you got sentimental."

"So yes, on the shooting?" He clarified with a note of amusement.

"If I'm all zombie yes," he agreed, matching his friend's tone. "Just listen for the urggg!"

"You're not going to be a zombie," Trip asserted but Leo saw his hand float over the ICER out of the corner of his eye.

"If I do though," he said, becoming serious. "Keep Jemma away from me. I don't want her to remember me like... like that. And if I... Just keep her away."

"Fitz-" he began.

"Trip I can't hurt her," He interrupted. "I can't hurt anyone but if I..."

"I'm not telling our biochemist to stay away from you if she can help you," Trip objected. "I'm not telling my friend she can't be there for someone she loves when he's sick."

"We have a doctor," he muttered but he knew Trip was right. Jemma wouldn't let anyone keep her away. He just couldn't stand the idea of her last memory of him being an unrecognizable screaming mess. He couldn't stand the idea of becoming that as it was.

"Yeah and she'll definitely let him be the one in charge you," he replied sarcastically. "I'm not arguing with her. I'll shoot you though," he added. "With this," he held up the weapon.

"You know I made that," he joked. "Me and Simmons."

"Yeah I heard," he chuckled.

Leo let himself laugh for a moment before frowning again. "Just... just don't let me bite anyone or anything." He begged.

"Oh stop being dramatic 98.5," Trip rolled his eyes. "You're fine."

Under Jemma's instructions Leo had been taking his own temperature every half hour and it was remaining reassuringly at 98.5 degrees Fahrenheit. On top of that his friend had been quizzing him and his memory was perfect. Trip was right, he was likely worrying for nothing.

"Got it," he said declared, fastening the last wire in place. "It's more of a patch up, we won't be at full power, but it should get us to shore even if it's a little slower. Oscar you can turn it on now!" He called down the stairs to the man who was helping him fix the ship's power source. Oscar was a good man and it was really sad about his son but he had faith Jemma would help him.

Oscar gave him a thumbs up and flipped the switch.

The lights turned on slowly and the engine resumed it's hum. The three of them cheered.

"Am I ever glad I joined your team," Trip grinned as he and Leo high fived.

"So you could get stuck on a broken boat full of zombies?" Leo teased.

"So I have someone fixing it when I do," he teased back.

They gave Oscar a high five and rechecked the power grid. The ship ran entirely on electricity so they really needed their work to hold if they wanted it to make it to shore.

Skye came crashing into the room after about fifteen minutes and from the awful look on her face he could tell something was horribly wrong.

"What is it?" He demanded, dread creeping over him.

Her eyes were bright and a few tears spilled out of them.

"It's Simmons," she told them quietly and he felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach. "She's sick."

/-/-/

Jemma smiled bravely at him as he came in and he did his best to return it.

She was sitting on the lower bunk in her room, a bloody tissue in her hands.

"Jemma," he breathed, sitting beside her and staring at her face. She didn't look sick but as her lip trembled and he pulled her into his arms he could feel she was burning up. She rested her head against his chest and he buried his face into her hair, rubbing her arm gently.

"It's going to be OK," he tried to assure her but his voice shook.

He felt her nod however she remained silent.

The others left them alone for a while and he tried not to cry as he held her and thought how horribly backwards this was. What kind of stupid zombies were these? He was the one who'd been bitten not her. She shouldn't be sick right now, she couldn't...

His tears leaked into her hair and she moved her head up carefully to kiss his face.

"I'll be alright," she murmured. "You got the ship working again didn't you? We'll get back to shore and fix everyone up. Just don't try kissing me when I'm all growling and snapping my fangs alright?" She kidded.

"Fangs?" He teased, sniffing and gazing fondly down at her. "Jemma I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, but you don't have fangs, I'd barely call those beautiful little pearls canines."

"Are you mocking my teeth?" She challenged playfully, sitting up and raising her eyebrows. "I'd make an excellent vampire, I'd drink cerebrospinal fluid though. Blood is much too overdone."

"When did beautiful little pearls become an insult?" He asked, chuckling at her and watching her wonderful face light up.

She scrunched her nose at him and leaned back against his chest.

"Will you stay with me?" She inquired softly, and he could tell she was afraid. "Until I... Until..." she let out a sob and he wrapped her in his arms, rocking her soothingly as she cried. A few of his own tears escaping onto her head which was pressed against his cheek.

"I'm not going anywhere," he vowed.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the likes, reviews, reads and follows! You guys all would be spinal fluid vampires. The coolest of vampires.
> 
> The Fringe reference is the cerebrospinal fluid sucking vampire. In the first season episode, Midnight, a woman is infected with a virus that makes her super strong and needing to feed off cerebrospinal fluid. That is the fluid around your brain and spinal cord. Yum...
> 
> Also the idea of Jemma turning into a vampire makes me think of notappeper's story Green when Fitz thinks Triplett is trying to make her his vampire queen.
> 
> Also I have no idea what Jemma's (or the actress who plays her) teeth look like. Maybe she has fangs.
> 
> Also tada! Fitz is not a zombie.


	7. Stay Awake

"Do you think they know what's happening?" Jemma wondered.

She was laying under the blanket next to Leo who was tinkering with a small radio, trying unsuccessfully to find a frequency which wasn't blocked by the infuriating pulse that scrambled all their attempts at signaling for help.

He placed the radio onto his legs which were stretched in front of him, parallel to how Jemma lay and looked down on her pale face. She seemed so weak and tired, but then he'd heard they all did near the end. Before they fell asleep and woke up as far from sleepy as you could get.

"You mean the cruise company?" He asked because earlier she'd wanted to know if the cows knew they weren't supposed to have rainbow colored polka dots.

"The people who turn rabid," she told him quietly because she hadn't been able to do much more than whisper for the past hour or so. "I'm just... trying to figure out what it's going to feel like."

"Jemma..." He said gently.

"Do you think it hurts?" She went on. "My head already really hurts now, maybe that's why they scream."

Even when left alone, most of the passengers who had become rabid would start screaming every once and a while, or rocking back and forth, or trying to claw at things through the ropes. Milo had had a seizure half an hour ago.

"Do you want anything for the headache?" He offered because he didn't really want to think about any of that happening to her.

"Could you use the cloth again?" She requested and he nodded before placing the radio on the floor and rising to retrieve the wash cloth, pouring water onto it from one of the bottles Skye had brought.

Carefully he moved her hair from her face and pressed the cool fabric against her burning forehead. She was at 103 now, most of the people who'd fallen asleep had been at 104.

She smiled at him before closing her eyes, and he guessed the cold must feel nice on her hot skin.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

He tried to cool down her face and her neck, dabbing the cloth all around, but it soaked up the heat like a sponge and soon it was too warm to be doing any good so he wrung it out over a small bowl, splashed more water onto it and tried again.

She kept her eyes closed as he did this but the small smile on her face told him she was awake.

After it warmed a second time he placed it in the bowl and helped her sit up so she could drink some water.

It was hard for her to swallow and she choked a little at first, taking a pause to cough and breath before drinking again. She must have been pretty thirsty to put so much of her dwindling energy into the attempt, he noticed her lips were chapped.

She screwed on the cap and handed the bottle back to him, resting her head on his uninjured shoulder, still coughing, as he placed it on the floor next to the bed.

"That feels better," she wheezed, letting out a small, feeble laugh. "Good thing I have you taking care of me."

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head. "I'll do whatever helps," he told her. "Just stay awake."

"Rule number one, no sleeping for me," she chanted overly cheerful because she'd slowly been losing it. "Or I'll wake up as a zombie, Oh, look, I made a rhyme," she giggled.

"Yeah, you did," he agreed sadly and her face fell as she came back to reality.

"I can't," she despaired sitting up a little so she could see his face clearly. "Leo I can't stay awake but I'm scared, I don't want to go crazy... I don't want to..."

She was shaking and he felt his heart break seeing her so frightened and helpless. All he could do was keep her comfortable while they waited for the inevitable.

"It's OK," he soothed, smoothing her hair. "I'll keep you safe and we'll get you better. I won't give up until you're better. You're always going to be my Jemma. My partner, my best friend, my love. Nothing is ever going to change that and I'm never going to stop fighting for you. So don't be afraid OK."

"Alright," she whispered.

She gazed at him trustingly, lovingly before her eyes clouded again and she leaned back against his shoulder as she began singing about the Calvin-Benson cycle, mashing it up with glycolysis.

"RuBisCo in and pyruvate out, after some chemistry, and that's how we make ATP without using light," she sang. "Well we would if we were plants, but- we're not plants are we?" She checked, taking a break from singing for a second.

"No, we aren't plants," he murmured, feeling his eyes grow hot and puling a few strands of hair from her face, in case she'd forgotten she how to move them, because she kept blowing on them.

"No photosynthesis for us then," she chirped. "Thanks for getting those out of my way, I forgot I had hands. Oh, oh no don't be sad." She fussed trying to wipe away the tears that he hadn't been able to hold back with clumsy fingers. "We can do lot's of fun things still! We don't need to photosynthesize," she made a face like it was some kid on the playground who didn't want to play with them, "we can just eat sugar. Yum! Do you want me to sing about sweets?"

"If you want to," he told her, feeling her slipping away. At least the singing would help her stay awake.

"Chocolate bars are wonderful, but not so healthy," she resumed singing.

He kissed her head again and tried to smile for her as she attempted to make him feel better about not being a plant.

Skye knocked and he rubbed his eyes before calling her in.

"I thought you might need more water," she explained holding up a bottle. "But then I remembered you had a whole box and umm... I thought I'd bring one anyway just in case, I dunno... We're worried about running out so I actually shouldn't have... I really just wanted to see how you were doing Simmons." She finished distraught.

"Hello Skye," Jemma greeted happily. "Skye, just Skye. Do you want a last name? Do you want my last name? I really won't need it anymore once I become a zombie. Haha, zombie they're more like human Old Yellers. Am I going to be a Labrador Retriever?"

"No you're not sweetheart," Leo informed her.

"How long as she been like this?" Skye gasped, her horror mirroring his own.

"She's been coming in and out of it for an hour," he replied, returning his eyes to Jemma. "Hey, hey stay awake," he instructed, shaking her gently as her eyes closed and her head began to drop."

"Goodnight Leo," she said, barely whispering. "Don't stay up too late."

"No!" He exclaimed, shaking her again more roughly. "Jemma don't, don't fall asleep."

Her eyes remained closed and she became limp in his arms.

"No," demanded. "No, no, no, Jemma wake up. You have to wake up,"

He patted the side of her face, panicking. "Wake up," he pleaded loudly, desperately.

"Fitz you don't want to be holding her when she wakes up," Skye reminded him miserably, trying to pull his arms from around her. "We have to tie her up."

"No," he objected, pulling her closer. "No, she isn't really sleeping, she's... No."

"Fitz we don't have a lot of time," she asserted.

He knew she was right. They had to stop her from hurting anyone or herself. But it was happening too fast, he hadn't even been able to say goodbye.

At Skye's insistence, he placed her down carefully and let his friend tie her up to the bed post before leading him out. They scooped up the water and the radio and set them down safely in the hall before they heard the agonizing sound of her screaming.

He'd never heard her sound like that before and he found himself wondering, as she had earlier, if she was in pain.

They watched as she struggled against the ropes before giving up to stare blankly in their direction. She didn't seem to recognize them however their presence enraged her, causing her to begin screaming and snapping all over again.

He felt lightheaded, as if none of this were real, as if he were floating away.

Skye placed a hand on his shoulder and he turned his head to see her face was set in determination.

"We should close the door," she told him and he shook his head because the idea of her being alone like that was terrible.

"She'll calm down if she can't see us," she explained firmly and he realized she'd done this before, with someone else's loved ones. Only this time it was someone she loved as well and her eyes were bright and her voice trembled as she spoke.

So he let her close the door and they held each other, crying, until Jemma stopped screaming.

"She'll be OK," Skye promised and he forced himself to believe her. She sniffed and wiped her eyes as she pulled away. "I'm going to get back to looking for whoever did this." She announced. "Coulson thinks they're still on the boat somewhere."

"They would have to be in order to mess with the power supply like that," he agreed. "What can I do?"

He couldn't sit playing with the useless radio anymore. He had to do something useful or he was sure he would explode. He had to feel like he was taking steps to get her better.

"Come with me," Skye said, touching his arm and beginning to walk away.

Leo looked at the door once more and hesitated, his heart heavy at leaving her alone even if she didn't know who he was anymore.

"There's someone patrolling the halls," she assured him, following his gaze. "They'll check in on her."

He took a breath and placed his hand against the door. "It's going to be OK Jemma," he called in, hoping some part of her still understood his words. "We're going to fix this, I promise."

He received another scream in response, like a knife to the stomach, but he swallowed his pain and followed Skye away.

/-/-/

Most of the passengers were gathered together in the dining hall, most of the healthy ones anyway. In total, 23 people were infected and 19 had turned.

Leo felt as if his world had fallen to pieces, pieces he desperately needed to put back together. He fidgeted impatiently waiting for the meeting to begin, picking at a scab on his thumb anxiously before Skye put her hand over it and told him to stop, he was going to make it bleed.

He was sitting between her and Triplett, Oscar close by looking grim because his son had also turned rabid.

"So what do we know about how this spreads?" Was the first thing Coulson asked, turning to John the doctor.

"Well we know it isn't too contagious," he informed everyone, nodding to Leo who's hand went automatically to the bite on his neck which still bothered him. "Not from person to person anyway but... Now this is going to seem like a strange question but who here has an infected friend or family member who took the audio tour?"

The hands of over half the people present shot up, Leo's included after a quick glance at Skye who nodded.

"And who here has an infected loved one who didn't take the audio tour?" He inquired.

One man raised his hand but looked uncertain. "I dunno," he admitted. "My Mom might have gone while I was at the bar... I didn't ask..." He shrugged unhappily. "I don't remember."

"So that's a maybe?" John guessed and he nodded.

"So you think that they picked it up from the equipment? The MP3 player?" Coulson wondered.

"No, it's not the MP3 player," Skye called out. "I used it too and I'm fine but Simmons..." she frowned. "She didn't have headphones..."

"So she bought those damn expensive ones?" A woman finished. "That's what April did and now she's... sick."

"Who here used the headphones from the tour stand?" May demanded and not a single person rose their hand.

"They could be the source of the infection," John suggested. "We should get rid of them, throw them into the ocean."

Jemma had gotten sick because of a stupid pair of headphones? A pair of headphones! He struggled to remain calm, however the next comment broke him.

"Maybe we should get rid of the infected people," a woman suggested mutinously.

His head whipped around, searching for the heartless coward who had dared shoot out such an unthinkable suggestion.

"There's no way in hell we're doing that!" He shouted but his voice was drowned out by a wave of angry objections.

"I'm only saying we need to think of the safety of the people still healthy," she defended. "I mean look at what only one can do," she pointed at Leo who wanted to hit her. "That could have killed him, what's going to happen with 23? Can we even cure them? What if they're gone anyway? What if their brains are... I'm not being very sensitive here but... all fried up?"

"That doesn't even make sense you idiot!" Leo raged along with another tide of furious protests. All fried up? Gone? No, no they weren't gone. That didn't make any sense. The world could only make sense if they could get her back, if she could smile and tell silly jokes and bubble on about everything and anything again. He refused to exist in any other reality.

He noticed only a few of the other passengers seemed to agree with her, even those without sick loved ones like the older couple from the engine room voiced their objections to her ludicrous statements.

"We don't know that they're gone," John asserted firmly. "We have every reason to believe we can reverse this."

"And no one is getting rid of anyone," Coulson added with finality. Damn right they weren't. Anyone who tried to hurt Jemma, or any of the others, would have to do so over Leo's dead body. "We are going to keep them tied up, continue to try to send a communication and throw those headphones into the ocean. Only the headphones. We do not harm innocent people, ever."

'You tell them Coulson,' Leo cheered in his head.

Most of the passengers seemed in agreement with him, however a small group still appeared uncomfortable and he made a note in his head to watch out for them.

'That still leaves us with finding who did this,' Leo thought, however he suspected that his leader wasn't going to let on they were searching for them in a crowd they might be hiding in.

A man burst into the room suddenly, his arm covered in blood and his eyes wide with terror. "They're out!" He yelled. "Someone is letting them out."

It took a few seconds for the group to understand what he meant but between the expression on his face and the bloody bite on his arm they soon got the message. The infected passengers were loose on the ship.

In the chaos of screaming and panic that followed Leo realized with a horrible pang that also included Jemma.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Jemma sings is mixed up. Pyruvate comes out if glycolysis which makes ATP and RuBisCo and carbon dioxide go into the Calvin-Benson cycle which is part of photosynthesis of which the end product is glucose. ATP is actually used up in the Calvin-Benson cycle. Poor Simmons would probably know the whole thing normally (without cheating using Google).
> 
> The Fringe reference is the cows with rainbow polka dots. In the story Walter tells Ella in Brown Betty his cow Gene has rainbow colored polka dots.


	8. Live Bait

"You were bluffing, about throwing the headphones into the ocean right?" Leo asked Coulson, him as they barricaded the dining hall.

"I don't know Fitz," he admitted, pushing a chair against the door. "If there's a chance of more people getting infected-"

"You can't just throw them away!" he interjected, shocked. "There are facilities for-"

"Look, I know it's a horrible thing to do," he cut him off. "to put waste like that into the environment and I'm not happy about it either but if more people can get infected with this we need to-"

"I don't care about the bloody fish!" Leo shouted, even though he did. He was furious, absolutely furious that his leader was not seeing what a mistake it would be to get rid of the headphones. "I care about Jemma! She's out there, sick, probably hurting and maybe scared out of her mind and you want to throw away something that might help her?! That might help all of them? What the hell is wrong with you."

It probably wasn't such a good idea, shouting at the leader of the organization he worked for, at his friend, but he didn't care. Jemma needed him and wasn't going to let anything stop him from ensuring everything humanely possible was done to get her better. So help anyone who stood against him.

"Keep your voice down," Coulson warned firmly, shifting his eyes to the crowd. "This isn't the time."

"Then when is the time?" he demanded angrily, shoving a table into the door with such force that it left a dent in the wood.

"Fitz you need to calm down," he commanded, his tone a mixture of anger and disappointment.

"No," he hissed at him. "No you need to- to calm up!" That made sense, bravo Leo. But he continued infuriated. "She's out there and she's sick and we can't just..." There were too many pieces of him missing and he broke down, losing control of himself. He turned away, embarrassed of Coulson seeing him weak, seeing his tears when he should be strong. "We can't throw away something that can save her. We h-have to s-save her... we have to... she's n-not gone," he remembered the woman's traitorous words. "Jemma isn't g-gone... she's scared and she n-needs me."

"Come over here," Coulson said, a gentleness entering his voice as he led him into a corner and hid him from view.

"W-why did I l-leave her?" he sobbed.

His friend placed his hands on his shoulders. "Look, we're going to try our best to keep the headphones OK? But you can't check out on us Fitz." he ordered. "You're right, Simmons needs you." Leo sniffed and nodded. It didn't matter how hard this was, how broken he felt, he had to keep going. "We all need you," Coulson pushed on and Leo let out another shaky sob before meeting his eyes. "You're on this team for a reason." He informed him.

He looked past his leader, to the room which was filled with people who were depending on him and his team. What would Jemma say if she knew he was letting them all down?

A young boy helped Oscar lift one of the tables onto the pile against the door and Leo remembered his name was Max and that his mother was among the infected. What a brave little guy, he was shaking and his eyes were wide, his face streaked with tears but he was still helping.

Leo swallowed and closed his eyes for a moment.

"What can I do?" he asked opening them.

"You can help me catch the sick people," he informed him. "Get them somewhere safe."

Leo straightened and wiped his face. "I can do that sir," he complied sturdily and they smiled at each other.

"Coulson could you come here for a moment," May called from the kitchen.

Leo followed his leader to where their teammate waited and found a man sitting on the floor, Trip pointing a gun at his face.

The back door to the kitchen, through which Leo guessed they had come in, was now boarded up as well.

"The tour salesman," Trip explained, glaring at him. "We caught him trying to escape on a life raft."

"Where did you think you were going?" Coulson demanded and the man laughed mockingly.

"Away from this hell hole," he spat at them.

"After you let all those infected people out," May shot at him, rare fury in her voice.

He shrugged as if they were praising him for some difficult task and he was being modest, "You tranquilize them for a few minutes while you untie the ropes, it wasn't so hard."

"You bastard they could get hurt! They could kill someone," Leo raged and Coulson held him back from, well he wasn't sure from what exactly but it wasn't going to be a fluffy hug.

"That was the point," the man taunted them and he felt fire in the pit of his stomach.

"How do we cure this thing?" Coulson demanded. "You had better give us an answer, none of us would really mind throwing you into ocean. I hear the waters here are pretty cold and I doubt anyone is going to throw you a life-preserver."

The man raised his hands defensively, looking almost scared.

Good. Leo hoped they would throw him into the ocean. More food for the fish.

He'd sold them to her, Leo recognized his face. This lowly worm had sold Jemma headphones that turned her into a raging mess of pain and fury and he hadn't given a second thought to the fact that she was a person who loved whales and Doctor Who and slime mold and not being a zombie. He didn't care that Oscar could lose his son or Max could lose his mother or that Leo could lose the person he loved with every part of his soul. This man was lowly, cowardly vermin and Leo wanted to throttle him.

He took a breath, trying to reign in his rage. It wouldn't do any good to let it overcome him now.

"I don't know," he was saying quickly, "Really I don't! It's a prototype, they were testing it. That's why it doesn't spread. It's not fertile, you don't make a reproducing prototype."

"You don't make it all," Trip snarled at him.

There was savage screaming from the hall and the worm-man whimpered.

"Don't let those things get me," he begged and Leo was disgusted.

"Those things?" he asked dangerously. "Those things are people you waste of a body! They're people who didn't ask for you to do this to them and one of them is someone I love very much. So you better tell us everything you know because if she dies I swear I'll kill you and you'll wish they'd done it."

The others were silent and he wondered if they thought he meant it. Did he mean it?

He felt Jemma inside of him, in his heart where she always was and he knew he didn't. It would make her sad to see him become the kind of person who did things like that, it would take away a part of the man she loved. And he didn't want to become that person but this idiot didn't need to know that so he continued to glare at him menacingly.

More screaming, closer now.

"I don't know!" the man squeaked pathetically. "Damn it they aren't paying me enough for this." He pressed his hand to his forehead, thinking. "There's a way... they told me they had a way to get them out in case they needed to...but they didn't tell me what it was. I just work for them. Please, please don't kill me I just do as I'm told and they pay me."

"You kill people for money." May said, unsympathetically.

"No! No I don't! I just sell the headphones, and then let those th-," Leo shot venom at him with his eyes."Let the infected people out," he continued, nervously. "Please don't kill me."

"We aren't going to kill you," Coulson told him coldly. "We're the good guys. You're the murderer." He glanced at Leo who nodded to show he agreed with him. "May, see what else you can get out of him." he instructed. "Fitz, Triplett, come with me."

May held a gun to the worm-man's head as the other two followed Coulson out.

"What's the plan?" Trip asked because Leo was still too livid to speak. He only sold the headphones? Only let them out? How dare he. But they needed to focus. Save Jemma, save everyone.

Coulson called Skye over from helping the passengers and they gathered around him as he lay out the plan.

"We're going to trap them," he explained. "But we may need someone to act as bait."

Leo volunteered instantly. He'd do anything to protect his friends, to protect Jemma.

His teammate's eyes all drifted to his wound.

"Fitz you're hurt. I can-" Skye offered but he shook his head.

"This is nothing, it's barely bothering me." he assured her. That was a lie, it was throbbing painfully.

She sighed unhappily but nodded as Coulson went on with their plan.

/-/-/

About an hour later Leo peered around the corner of the door at the small group of infected people. One of them wore a purple tuxedo. That was... interesting... hadn't they had time to change when they were sick?

'Focus,' he told himself. 'We can think about people's clothing choices later.'

A small group, why had he thought small? There five of them! Could the others even shoot that many before he was bitten again?

He was exhausted, soaked in sweat and his arm still bled where another bite had broken his skin. Not so deep this time but painful none-the-less. Skye had forced him to let her take a turn after that had happened but now he'd talked her back into being a sniper.

"You have better aim than I do," he'd told her, which was true because his hacker friend was also in training to be a field officer like May, Coulson and Triplett and he'd had minimal practice actually shooting weapons. Making them sure, easy, fun even but shooting them not so much. He wasn't going to let the fact that they cared about him make them less efficient.

Anyone could run away, not everyone could aim.

They'd gotten 14 of the infected with their trap (Jemma not among them). This group would put them at 19 and he decided that it was worth the risk he was taking for that. He just hoped the others would be ready. He had to lead the group to the bow of the boat where they could have a clear shot with their ICERs from the jogging track but there had never been more infected than shooters.

When had he become so fearless? When had the snap of human teeth inches from his throat ceased to be something that deterred him from running back at a crowd of rabid people again?

It didn't matter when, he knew why. Jemma needed him, his team needed him and the innocent people on the boat needed him so he was doing it.

He took a breath and sprung out from the sleeping-room door he'd been hiding behind and called to the infected people.

"Hey! Hey you zombies come here!" he shouted. "You... smelly... er sorry." Maybe they understood him, they were still people after all. "Follow me!"

He banged on the side of the door and they ran at him. He bolted up the stairs and onto the top deck, racing to the bow of the ship. He didn't need to look behind him, their screams and snarls told him they were there.

"OK shoot! Shoot!" he shouted as he reached the open deck at the bow.

A rain of rounds fell on them and they collapsed one by one but not before one of them tackled him to the ground. It was quickly shot too and fell on top of him.

He was breathing heavily, heart beating like a trapped rabbit but he wasn't hurt.

"Fitz!" Skye shouted down.

"I'm fine," he called up shakily, pushing him off. "Come get them, I'll go look for more."

"Maybe a smaller group," Coulson suggested.

"Do you want me to have a turn at luring them," Trip offered.

"Do you want me to be the one shooting them?" Leo shot back and his friend seemed troubled, even from a distance, but didn't argue.

"Just be careful," May warned and he gave them a thumbs up as he went back in search of infected on the loose.

Ow, now his back hurt too. Stupid bio-weapons makers selling headphones filled with zombie parasites to innocent people. Who did that?

May had gotten more out of the worm-man. They knew that they were indeed parasites, there was a way to kill them, and they would burrow out the nose when you did it (trying to escape whatever it was). Additionally the device blocking their communications was under the boat. Worm-man had turned it on remotely once people began getting bitten (namely Leo himself, still the only one with any bites) and they were going to find a way to turn it off once they had everyone safely tied up again. Good thing they had so much rope.

The worm-man was now locked in a cabinet, guarded by one of the passengers who they'd given an ICER to. A few of the other passengers were armed with weapons the team had brought, guarding the boarded up doors of the dining hall.

Leo searched the side of the deck, hidden from the track by a roof to keep rain out, for any infected not below. As he rounded a corner he almost collided with Max.

"What the- what are you doing up here?!" he demanded. Oh no, oh no, this was not good.

"I want to help," he told him bravely. "You haven't found my mom yet, have you?"

"How did you get out?" Leo demanded, trying to remain calm. Only 4 left out there, that wasn't so many. He could just lead the kid back down to the dining room and-

He spotted Jemma coming up from one of the stairwells which led below deck. It didn't look like her at first, her posture was all wrong, but he recognized her sweater and her hair and the shape of her because they were as familiar as his own reflection.

Quickly he pulled Max around the corner and carefully peered out at her. She hadn't seen them but she was stumbling towards them. Her gait sloppy and uneven because the parasite affected her motor skills. It hurt seeing her like that, her eyes glazed over and her sweater torn where she'd clawed at it, but he forced himself to focus because he needed to protect Max.

She was about as far from the bow as she could get, being at the back of the boat and he needed to get Max to safety.

"You want to help?" he whispered, leaning down and placing a hand on his shoulder and the boy nodded. "Go down and tell the others there are four left. We have your mom," he assured him because it was true. "She's safe and so are the rest of them. You need to tell the others that for me OK? Tell them everything is going to be fine. We need them to stay calm. That's very important do you understand?"

Max nodded again, looking terrified and Leo guessed he'd caught a glimpse of Jemma before being pulled around the corner.

"That's it, good job. Very quiet high five," he held out his hand and the boy tapped it lightly.

Jemma screamed, a horrible sound that ripped into him and Max looked up at him with big scared eyes.

"It's OK," he assured him in a whisper, taking a breath before he did what he knew he needed to. "I'm going to need you to run though. When I tell you just run as fast as you can and get back to the others. Do you remember where they are?"

There was another stairwell in the other direction which the boy could go down safely. He hated the idea of leaving him alone but he had to distract Jemma so he could get away.

The little boy nodded once again and he smiled at him. "Good. Are you ready?"

Hesitation, then another slow nod.

"Don't follow me," he instructed firmly. "Now I'm going to count to three and then you run that way, I'll be going in the opposite direction."

He seemed incredibly frightened, poor kid, but it was clear that he understood so Leo began to count quietly.

"One, two, three, go."

Max ran away from him, sprinting towards the stairs to the lower deck and he hoped desperately he would reach the safe point before some other infected person found him. But he didn't have time to think about that right now as he darted past Jemma, calling her name and she snarled at him before taking up the chase.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Fringe reference is the purple tuxedo. In The Bishop Revival Walter offers Peter his old tuxedo to wear when he gets married someday (Walter is pushing that it be Olivia haha,). Peter says that tuxedoes don't stay in style long to which Walter replies that purple never goes out of style.
> 
> The idea of not making a reproducing prototype is from Orphan Black. It's was the from the minds of the show's brilliant creators, not mine haha.
> 
> A huge thanks to notapepper for helping me puzzle through the headphones with her vast knowledge of Shield. I felt bad about throwing them in the ocean and hurting the imaginary sea creatures and she helped we go through some alternatives (like how Shield would want to keep them for research and a cure) and suggested the conversation between Coulson and Fitz. :).


	9. Cold Water

Jemma ran at him, screaming and snarling and very much not herself.

'She'd be so embarrassed if she could hear herself,' he thought. 'Or maybe horrified.' Probably horrified.

He banged along the rail as he ran, dodging her but keeping her close enough behind him she wouldn't stop chasing him. Not that that was really a problem.

Where was he going to go though? There was no trap, no May, Coulson, Skye or Trip waiting with an ICER yet.

He searched for an idea, any idea but all he could think to do was continue to stay out of her reach until they had time to set up again. She was so fast though, fueled by mad rage and whatever the hell else those psychos had made the parasite do to her.

He gazed behind him at the awful expression on her face and wondered once more if she was hurting, if she knew what was happening to her. The momentary distraction cost him and he reached the corner at the other end of the deck before he had time to turn, crashing into the railing and flailing to keep his balance before she came tearing into him, knocking them both overboard and into the water.

Breaking through the surface felt like a smack on his head and water rushed up his nose because they were upside-down.

Jemma grabbed onto him, not biting but kicking down hard so that they were propelled deeper into the water. He fought against her, shocked at her lack of any kind of self preservation.

She was too strong though and she was dragging him down despite his best attempts to save the both of them. He thought that maybe if he could push her away he'd be able to get up to the surface but then she'd persist to swim downwards and he'd have no chance of saving her so he continued to struggle, trying to turn her around until the freezing water coupled with the lack of fresh oxygen to his already sore body sapped the rest of his strength and he couldn't keep fighting against her anymore.

'I'm sorry Jemma,' he despaired, using the last of his energy to pull his head forward and kiss the place between her eyes. 'I love you,' he thought in case somehow she could hear him, in case some part of her understood what his gesture meant.

'You're still Jemma and whatever happens I'm still your Leo.'

Her skin was freezing, like the water which must have soaked away the heat from her fever. The world seemed to spin and he no longer felt as if they were upside down. It felt almost as if they were going upwards, that she was swimming towards the sunlight.

His lungs were burning and he was sure he was about to pass out when his head broke the surface of the water and he took in wonderful, quenching breath of air before choking and spitting up water.

Jemma was coughing and gasping for air the same way he was, still holding onto him so that his head stayed above the waves and as his strength came back to him he began swimming to help her, shivering violently in the cold water.

Her nose was bleeding from one side but her eyes were clear and when she looked at him she could tell she was seeing him, that she recognized who he was.

"What... the... hell..." she panted. "Why... are we... in the water? Why in the world weren't you swimming?!"

"Jemma?!" he exclaimed, a grin spreading across his face as he swam forward to embrace her, briefly because it was hard to swim to keep their heads above the water so close together.

A long, whitish-yellow worm surfaced beside them, covered in blood and they yelped as she dragged him away from it. It appeared dead, limp and unmoving.

"That was in my head wasn't it?" she realized with a horrified expression. "Oh... oh no what was I doing to you? Did I bite you? How on earth did you get it out?"

"I didn't," he told her staring, baffled, between her and the worm.

"So... what you were just going to drown?" she wondered, confused.

"Well it wasn't as if I was just going to simply let it happen," he shot back. What did she think he'd done? Given up? OK, whatever, let's just sink. As if he'd do that! "You were swimming downwards and that, whatever the hell that is," he pointed at the worm. "was giving you super strength or something or maybe you're just a better swimmer than me I don't know. But it's not as if I wasn't trying to get us back up."

She looked like she was going to be sick and he instantly regretted his tone. "I was swimming down." she whispered. "What and taking you with me?"

"Well... not you," he tried to assure her but she remained mortified.

"I'm so sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I didn't... I don't remember..." she closed her eyes and placed her hand on her head like it was hurting her.

"It's OK," he soothed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's over, that thing is out of your head. You didn't hurt anyone- not that it would have been you anyway- and you pulled me back to the surface... again." he joked and she smiled at him.

"You're right... it's fine," she agreed, taking a breath before wincing. "Ow, my head really hurts though. I really didn't hurt anybody?"

"You really didn't," he informed her, touching her face and she placed her palm on his cheek.

"We should call for help," he suggested and she nodded in agreement.

They shouted up until May's head appeared, staring down at them and she threw a life-preserver to them.

He made Jemma go first, shaking his head stubbornly when she tried to protest.

"You've just gotten rid of a zombie parasite in your head, you're in no condition to be swimming around alone." he asserted.

"I'm fine-" she tried to say but he interrupted her

"We aren't arguing about this," he insisted. "Your nose is going to attract sharks so get onto that damn thing before you get me eaten."

The comment had simply been meant to sway her into listening to him however he noted with a slight pang of fear that he was probably right. It was better to get her bleeding nose out of the ocean as soon as possible.

She'd given him an exasperated glance but had done as he'd asked and climbed onto it, scooping up the damn worm to take up with her. Of course, Shield would want it and he was sure she'd be curiously dissecting it once they got back to the lab.

"I love you!" he called up to her, far warmer than his last comment had been. "In case I get eaten by a shark." he only half kidded.

"No getting eaten," May yelled down to him. "Wait for the life-preserver."

"You have a better chance getting hit by lightening," Jemma chuckled at him. "But I love you too!"

The life-preserver dropped down and May and Jemma pulled him up.

"Are you both alright?" May asked and they nodded before thanking her.

Jemma really was fine, somehow the parasite had been killed, or had been forced to make its way out of her head and die. Whatever the case she was fine and despite the fact that they still had 22 other people on the boat trying to kill them and that another three were still running rampant, he felt a bolt of joy that caused him to rush forward and embrace her.

"I'm so glad you're OK," he told her and he felt her arms wrap around him, bringing back all the parts of him that had been missing.

"You too," she said quietly and he could tell she was thinking of how zombie her had dragged both of them down under the waves.

"It's over now," he guaranteed her. "You're better and we're going to get everyone else better too."

They moved away from each other and she nodded determinedly. He gently wiped the blood off her face with his sleeve, this shirt was ruined anyway (another reason to hate people who made bio-weapons) and she took his hand, turning his arm to examine where he'd been bitten through the fabric.

"What have you been doing?" she breathed, taking in his worn down appearance.

He wasn't sure exactly how to explain to her what he'd been up to without it sounding really bad (I was human bait, it was the best day ever) and he was glad when May decided to speak.

"Is that what was in your head?" May asked, motioning to the worm still in her hand.

They all stared at its lifeless body. "It was," she frowned. "Until..." she struggled to remember. "I was... chasing Fitz...I wanted to... oh no it was awful," she glanced up at him miserably. "I... I was all messed up. I'm so so-"

"No apologies necessary," he cut her off resolutely. "Not from you."

He and May were patiently giving Jemma their full attention and she nodded, still seeming unhappy, before she continued.

"And then we were in the water," she went on, concentrating again. "I was trying to pull you down..." she buried her face in her hands and rubbed her forehead before continuing and he massaged her shoulder soothingly. "It was so cold and Fitz was struggling but... I... I didn't..." she took a shaky breath. "I didn't know he was Fitz I just wanted to...," she couldn't say it but they all knew she had wanted to kill him. No, not her, the parasite.

"I couldn't think and my head was incredibly painful- not that that's a reason I just," she lost her composure for a second but shook her head and continued bravely. "It felt like it was... burning..." she said slowly. "Until the water started to cool me down. And I felt you kiss my head," she glanced at him again, puzzled. "But I knew it was you when that happened... I don't know if... did it happen?"

"That happened," he let her know.

"Why?" she asked, remaining confused.

"Just in case," he replied, smiling warmly at her. "In case you knew."

She narrowed her eyes affectionately at him. "I knew." Her gaze left his face and she frowned again, her mind turning. "I knew who you were... I didn't a minute before so what changed?"

"We were in the ocean," he put out. "And it was cold, you were-"

"Cold." the finished together, eyes locking again ecstatically.

"That's it!" she exclaimed. "It was freezing down there,"

"And your fever went away," he grinned.

"And the parasite came out my nose!" she cheered.

"Yeah... that must have been pretty gross," he imagined. "Was it slimly?"

She shrugged. "It wasn't so bad, I was mostly worried about not being able to breathe."

"Oh yeah," he remembered.

"But that must be it!" she said, beaming at him.

"Can someone explain what's happening?" May interjected and they both turned to her and began rapidly talking all at once, finishing each other's sentences and overlapping each other's words.

"The cold from the ocean it-" she started.

"it got rid of her fever and it-" he added.

"and it must have killed the parasite, it probably can't-" "likely can't survive at lower temperatures," they said.

"So it left through her-," he explained.

"Made its way out my nose." she finished.

"I got cold and nose," May announced, perhaps a bit less patiently.

"The cold kills it!" they clarified excitedly together and Leo made a face as she waggled the worm in front of him.

"Oh stop that, it's dead," she chided and he couldn't help but grin at her. He'd probably have grinned if she told him she was giving LSD to a caterpillar at this point, he didn't care, he was delighted she was back to being herself again. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she wondered, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm just enjoying you," he said and then fumbled to explain because that sounded weird. "Not in a perverted way of course I don't- well I mean I do think of you like that but not in a weird- I think of other parts of you too- oh wait no, not the parts you're thinking. Well sometimes but... er..." he was turning pink, he knew it, but she laughed at him before giving him a quick kiss.

"If I ever need to know how to make something awkward," she giggled. "I'll ask you."

"Right..." May cut in as they beamed at each other. "I know you two went through a traumatic experience and I don't mean to rush you but we still have three infected people to capture."

"Oh yeah," he remembered, thinking of Max with jolt of worry.

"What do you mean three others?" Jemma demanded. "How many got out other than me."

"All of them," May informed her. "But we caught most of them. Fitz has been luring them to the bow where we-"

"He's been what?" she interrupted horror-struck. She widened her eyes at him, almost disapprovingly "Is that how you got bit again? And that bruise on your face? Who came up with that idea?"

"It's a good plan," he defended. "It's been working."

"We really need to get going," May insisted.

"Can we go check if Max made it to the dining room," he inquired, turning away from the distress in Jemma's eyes as she looked him up and down.

"We met him on the way up and Triplett escorted him," May let him know and he breathed out a sigh of relief. "We should be set up again soon." she added and he nodded, getting up wearily.

"Jemma I'll walk you to the dining hall on the way-" he began but her eyes flared as she cut him off.

"Why?" she shot at him. "I'm going to help you."

"Jemma you just got a worm out of your head, you're in no condition to-" he tried to say but she interrupted him again.

"And you're in tip top shape are you?" she challenged, nodding her head at the hand he was using to lean on the wall.

"It's not the same thing," he protested, pushing himself off and wobbling a bit before standing straight.

"You do seem pretty worn down," May concurred and Jemma crossed her arms before shooting him a smug look. "I think it would be good for you two to work together."

"Yeah, alright," he conceded grumpily because there was no way for him stop her.

Jemma took his hand, rubbing the back of his palm before tenderly kissing the bruise on the side of his head. Her lips were so gentle it didn't hurt it but it sent a soft warm rush through him which made everything hurt less and his body feel stronger.

"You don't have to do this alone anymore," she told him. "I'm here now, you're partner's back."

/-/-/

Jemma lay on the deck beside Leo, catching her breath. That had been terrifying, she couldn't believe he'd done it almost a dozen times. She'd done it twice, once with a single infected person and now with a group of two and she was already more than prepared for it to be over. When had he become so fearless?

She looked over at him, his eyes were closed but he still held her hand as their team scooped up the paralyzed people. He was so exhausted and beat up. It wasn't just the bite and the bruise. His other bite had started bleeding again and he had scratches on his neck and probably under his shirt too. He was red and sweaty and still wheezing for breath.

She hated the idea that he'd been using himself as human bait this whole time. Just because she understood why didn't mean her heart didn't squeeze painfully at the thought of him being chased over and over by people who wanted to kill him. And they did want to kill him.

She'd been one of them. She knew the burning, all consuming rage and the unavoidable desire to kill because, in her head, somehow that would stop it. It wouldn't though, of course it wouldn't but she'd believed it would. It was hazy and it made her sick to remember but she had wanted to kill him just to make the burning stop because that was all there had been; burning or no burning. No Jemma, no Leo, no anything else. It was like some kind of nightmare.

Until she'd woken up and the first thing she'd felt was him kissing her face. Because of course that was his first instinct upon realizing she was drowning him. Not that he'd believed she was doing it.

"It's wasn't you," he kept telling her but he'd gotten it wrong it had been her it just hadn't been him she was drowning before she'd woken up, it had been the fire in her head. She hadn't known what she was doing until it was almost too late.

But it hadn't been too late and thinking of the could haves and almosts and trying to piece through why she had done it was its own kind of burning and she had to stop before it consumed her.

"A bunch of the others are already awake," Skye told them happily, sitting down beside Jemma for a moment. "Thanks to you guys."

"It was really more of an accident," she admitted. An accident, that was funny. She'd accidentally pushed her boyfriend into the ocean and swam downwards with him like some insane dolphin.

"Well you knew it was the cold," she shrugged. "That was good thinking. We hauled up some ocean water and poured it on them until they stopped trying to bite us. Everyone is fine and one of the passengers knows how to dive and we have some equipment so they're going to break off the device once we stop the engine, then we can go home."

Home, that sounded nice. Where was home anyway the Bus? She did miss her bunk.

She turned to Leo who had that dopey, happy look on his face again as he stared at her. "Do you want to go home?" she asked.

"Yes please," he replied and the three of them laughed together.

"No Volcanoes National Park though," she sighed.

She was grateful just that no one had been killed or badly hurt but it would have been nice to have a vacation.

"We live on an airplane," Skye chuckled. "I'm sure we can take the time to fly there. And I don't know about you but I was promised two days off in Hawaii."

"I received the same promise," Leo agreed, still on his back but raising his hand.

"Yeah me too," she added.

"Well we'll just have to stage a protest," Skye joked and they laughed again.

/-/-/

Jemma and Leo were back on the Bus and the next day they were indeed departing for Hawaii. Even Shield agents could take a vacation sometimes and after what happened on the ship they all needed it.

They'd taken Leo to a hospital for both of the bites and he was fine, thankfully. Still she was keeping a close eye on him to be sure it healed properly.

They were snuggled together, after everyone else had gone to sleep, enjoying having the sitting room to themselves as they scanned through the scavenger hunt list she'd made and tried to guess which ones they were going to find.

"I hope we see a tree snail," she said cheerfully, pulling up a picture on their tablet of a few of the species.

"You get a special snail kiss for everyone," he chuckled kissing her face.

"What makes it special?" she wondered, raising her eyebrows at him.

"It'll be very slow," he kidded and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Did you pack everything you need?" she checked.

"All I need is you," replied softly and her heart turned to ice cream on a summer day.

"I guess neither of us need to pack anything," she smiled and he gave her a special, slow snail kiss.

"No, we're fine." he told her. "But I did bring an extra pair of headphones."

She rested her head onto his shoulder, warm and happy and safe. "So did I."

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sharks attacks really are rare and sharks are an important part of the ocean. long live the sharks.
> 
> There really is a parasite in snails that sorta turns them into zombies. It's called Leucochloridium paradoxum. It makes their eyes go all weird and them go towards the top of the foliage (towards the sun) so they get eaten by birds. Google snail zombie, its seriously freaky. And cool.  
> I dunno how realistic this parasite is or the fact that cold causes it to evacuate you but it science fiction right haha. Freezing parasites is a way to kill them apparently.
> 
> The Fringe reference is the giving LSD to a caterpillar. In the first season episode Bound Peter comes in to find Walter doing just that, because why not. Peter comments "guess what just happened? Finding out that my father gives drugs to bugs, somehow just became a typical moment in my life." to which Walter responds "Isn't it wonderful?"


	10. Shameless Flirting

Jemma was sure this was one of the best vacations she'd ever had. She'd received five snail kisses, on top of a multitude if other kisses in the privacy of their hotel room (there were no rules here, away from the Bus) and she'd seen a shield volcano, half a dozen species of orchids and a dolphin.

To make things even better Leo had been by her side the entire time as her boyfriend not her coworker. Not that it wasn't wonderful working with him, it was just also wonderful to be able to cuddle with him or kiss his face without wondering of they were going to get in trouble for it.

Now they were at the market, looking over the fresh fruit and he held her hand as they skipped along joyfully. What a great hand he had, the perfect size and the perfect squishiness. Maybe a bit warm in the heat but she could live with that.

The man ahead of them was flirting with the owner of the stand, telling her shyly of how he was designing a new car that would be a double-decker (what an interesting idea) and commenting kindly on the flower in her hair before asking her on a date (to which she said yes.)

Jemma thought they were adorable but was a little surprised to see Leo was staring at them as well.

"It's too bad we never got to flirt like that," he mumbled, perhaps to himself. "I don't think anyone's ever asked me on a real date before. Well, maybe once or twice sort of..." He chuckled. "Not that I'd say yes now, I'm happily spoken for." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze before kissing her cheek and going back to the fruit.

He wanted someone to flirt with him? Hadn't she?

She realized she hadn't, she'd never had to. He'd fallen in love with her without her even realizing it and vice-versa. Who needed flirting anyway? It was so awkward and difficult.

Well, apparently he did, she'd seen the slight longing in his eyes as he'd mumbled to himself/ her.

She could flirt. Why not? It was Leo and she had no reason to feel uncomfortable or awkward. It could even be fun, a new experience.

She formulated a plan as he tried to choose between papayas and pineapples, deciding on the pineapple.

/-/-/

Leo was taking a break from darts with his teammates and trying to figure out the difference between the drinks Island Passion and Tropical Fruit Fusion. It really just seemed like the fruits were named in different orders and he wondered if that meant they didn't have identical amounts of each in them.

"Why hello there," Jemma said, appearing beside him and he swiveled his chair to see her taking the seat next to him. "Don't you have a nice... button." She motioned to the button on his shirt.

Huh? What was happening?

"It's so... round and... secure. Like you" she added raising her eyebrows. "... Uh... secure not round... well round is nice but you aren't... anyway... umm" she fidgeted nervously.

Leo had no idea what was going on. Was she trying to pass some secret message to him?

"And don't you make that button look gorgeous," she continued, staring intently at him. "I mean on anyone else it would be alright but with this," she waved her hands, indicating all of him. "Pfft, wow."

It suddenly hit him that she was flirting with him and a grin spread across his face.

"Well doesn't that... er thread there," he pointed to a loose piece of thread on her shirt, "just bring out those beautiful eyes." he flirted back, a little unsure of himself but she beamed at him.

"Well shirts should wear us more often," she announced. "Oh... Well... Maybe not because then they'd have to skin us..." She sighed, "Oh no, that was not attractive."

"You're very attractive," he told her and she looked up at him with sparkling eyes before he kissed her.

"So are you," she murmured as he pulled away. "Would you be interested... I mean I was wondering if...," she fumbled. "Would you like to go on a date with me?" She requested, her apprehension fading as she stood up straight and met his eyes.

"Now?" He wondered, his eyes drifting back to the others to see that Skye had been watching them and wore a look of amusement mixed with bewilderment on her face. Jemma had probably told them already.

He turned his gaze back to Jemma who shrugged. "Why not?"

He smiled sunshine at her and held out his hand. "Where should we go?" He asked.

"Wherever we want," she replied, returning his smile like another sun as she took it.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Fringe reference is the double decker cars. In the alternate universe they are a thing and people drive them and there is a toy of one in the series.
> 
> So... I don't know how people flirt but I figured they didn't either so I was good. Also I have never been to Hawaii so don't take anything here as legitimate haha.


End file.
